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Joy and Sorrow

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
 
I recently watched a dear friend die, and as I sought to comfort myself with Paul’s words, I found myself thinking that there’s really nothing so glorious about suffering.  There’s nothing good about the indignities of growing old or being sick or having your heart broken.  As a pastor, I’ve watched hundreds of people suffer. I’ve listened to families weep over a child’s death.  I’ve watched beloved friends die the slow and agonizing death of cancer.  I’ve felt my own heartache through the loss of an infant son and dear brother. 
 
There are days when I shake my head and close my eyes tight to stop the tears and wonder what can ever be so “glorious” that it will make all this seem so insignificant.  Did the apostle Paul know what he was talking about when he wrote this passage of Romans?  Did he really understand pain and suffering?  Or is this just a nice, religious platitude thrown as a bone to the spiritually and intellectually weak?  And how does suffering translate to glory?
 
These are not glib questions. Nancy, the friend who recently left us for heaven, became the church grandma to many of the kids in our church.  She prayed for my family and me, and blessed many others with her generosity and bright, positive spirit.  But then one day she learned that she had cancer and it was painful, discouraging and faith challenging.  There were days when we could barely recognize the Nancy we’ve known.  Her suffering changed her, stripping her on occasion of her usual good humor and upbeat attitude.  She was forced to consider her faith and her perceptions of God. 
 
And she did.  She clung to Jesus through the ordeal, and in the end, died with grace and dignity and with words of love on her lips for her friends and family.
 
For years I watched our friend practice encouragement, prayer and faith, building into her relationships a foundation of the Lord and of love. In her suffering, even in the most difficult moments, when her physical faculties diminished and her mind began to wander, what remained was the essence of who she had become through all those years of faith building.  When all was stripped away, she was reduced to her love for the Lord and her family and friends.  I thought, that’s how I want to be. 
 
God’s Word promises us that through the path of suffering there is gold—but it is a gold not easily mined and purified.  I’ve learned, through the examples of the saints who have gone before us, that when God’s Word is hidden in our hearts, when it cleanses our souls and renews our minds and so fills and inspires our lives, then we can overcome anything.  We can suffer and yet know joy.  We can know what my friend and countless others who have gone before us now know for certain:
     “In all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
 
Our prayer is that God’s Word will daily enrich and strengthen your lives, taking you to the finish line of life with joy and anticipation of the glory to come!
 
God Bless You,
Ray Bentley