ALL OF LIFE IS A STEWARDSHIP.
All of life is a gift from God to be lived in grateful honor to God and love to others.
That certainly includes your talents, things, and time.
It also includes your suffering, pain, and grief.
I think we all would like more of the former and less of the latter. Our prayers ask God for better talent with more things and time. We pray for no or at least less suffering, pain, and grief.
The only thing more painful than going through suffering is someone sharing another lesson about suffering. Sorry to add to your suffering.
I want to start our consideration of suffering and stewardship with the facts, not our feelings. What is the truth when we are buried in our sufferings? Is it worth it?
- GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE IS REVEALED THROUGH GOD’S WORD.
God saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in God’s Word! (Psalm 139:16).
God’s word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
Since we are God’s children, we will share his treasures—for all God gives to his Son Jesus is now ours too. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering (Romans 8:17).
OK, we are not arguing with God about his plan and all the future goodness (glory) we will receive. But what about this part about present time suffering?
IS IT WORTH IT?
Let me insert my descriptions of present suffering and future glory into this discussion even though you know what suffering feels like and have some idea about heavenly glory.
Suffering is the loss of something you want, such as the loss of a loved one, the loss of good health, or the loss of security. Suffering is also the addition to your life of something you did not want, i.e., cancer, stress, problematic circumstances.
Our future glory is all the immeasurable and infinite goodness of God wrapped up in Jesus Christ now in us who wait for its full and final revelation.
So, I ask again, is it worth it for your stewardship of life to include suffering, pain, and grief? Let us ask God.
- For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).
Does your future ‘glory’ seem so small and of no account compared to your present ‘suffering’? Sure, it does today. ‘Suffering’ is real. Suffering can consume your thoughts and feelings. It can even take over your life.
Whenever your suffering is considered ‘out of context’, it will overcome everything else. Your thinking becomes impaired. You lose sight of the horizon. Your measurements of worth get messed up.
Here is a reminder from God’s Word to help you refocus on reality. God’s future goodness is far greater than your present suffering.
I am not downplaying the reality and the severity of your suffering. Suffering is real, hard, and painful, but there needs to be more to your suffering than it just being felt.
Your ‘present real-time suffering’ needs to be considered in the context of ‘the future glory to be revealed’ that is guaranteed by God’s absolute sovereignty, undeniable truthfulness, and proven faithfulness.
The future glory is beyond all comparison. Really? How do we know?
The biblical word for glory in this passage is a description of ‘weight,’ something with substance, incalculable reality. In his Exodus revelation of his glory to Moses, God described it as His immeasurable goodness to the undeserving. In the New Testament, God’s glory is manifested in the life and love of Jesus, God’s gift to and in us who believe.
God encourages us to do what Paul, the writer of Romans, did. Consider this. Calculate the two. Do the math. Weigh them on the scales.
SUFFERING vanishes into the air when compared to Future GOODNESS. It is not even close. Suffering does not even register on the scales of worth and it does not subtract any time from eternal happiness.
Well, those are just words, not real-life experiences. Let me remind you who wrote those divinely inspired words. Listen to what he knew about suffering.
I worked harder than anyone. I was put in jail many, many times. I was whipped to the legal limit and beyond more times than one can count. I faced death again and again and again. Five different times the religious leaders oversaw me given their terrible thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once they threw rocks at me until they thought I was dead. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I was in the open sea all night and the whole next day.
I traveled many weary miles and have often been in great danger from flooded rivers and from robbers and endangered in front of so-called friends and sworn enemies. I faced grave dangers (“You said grave danger.” “Is there any other kind?…shout out to the movie, A Few Good Men)…grave dangers from mobs in the cities and from death in the deserts. Grave dangers in the stormy seas and from fake friends.
I lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. I was often hungry and thirsty and without food. I shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
Besides all this, I had constant worry for loved ones and restless nights praying for brothers and sisters who could not have a good relationship with one another. I shared their sadness and bore their burdens. I helped some people spiritually and I was spiritually hurt by others.
Oh, by the way, I was also blind for a while, and I never got any time off from this ‘thorn in the flesh’ stuff that had me begging for relief.
Paul’s conclusion: All my suffering is not worth being compared to God’s promise of future goodness. NO COMPARISON.
Why did all that suffering happen to Paul? (1) To make him more Christlike in his life and love and (2) to encourage you to do the same.
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE (Romans 15:4).
HOPE: the confident expectation of experiencing all the future goodness God has promised…Somehow…Someway…Sometime.
We live in a world with many hopeless people. You suffer as well, maybe even more than most; however, you have HOPE.
We confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us (to live and love like Jesus). We also rejoice in our sufferings, problems, and troubles, because we know they are good for us and help us to learn Christlike character, hope, and love (Romans 5:2-5)
We rejoice in HOPE of the glory of God. Not only that, but we also rejoice in suffering …WHAT???
Back to God’s Word.
- After you have suffered a little while, our God who is full of goodness in Christ, will personally pick you up and put you back together stronger than ever (1 Peter 5:10).
Suffering, pain, and grief all have expiration dates. None lasts forever, not even the chronic hurts. Even the longest earthly times are ‘just a little while’ compared to imperishable eternal glory.
We do not like suffering, and I am not suggesting you go looking for it. We would all prefer a lifetime of Disneyland happiness. However, I do wish to address our wrong thoughts about suffering.
This real world is broken, futile, and vanity. It is chasing the wind while running in circles trying to catch a moment of happiness.
Sometimes, we feel abandoned or ignored by God. We feel lost and lonely in our hurt. We even battle thoughts that it is some kind of punishment for some recent or distant past wrongdoing. We suffer in blame and shame. WRONG!
In this world, we will have trouble. Jesus warned us that we would face trouble in this world; but He also encouraged us to experience its hope and happiness.
What is the truth about why you suffer?
Jesus left you an example to suffer like He suffered. Jesus saw it as a God-given stewardship (1 Peter 2:21).
We have ‘peace’ with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). The word peace means two have come together to be one with nothing to irritate or divide. The verb is in the continuous present tense. You have it today, tomorrow, the next day, and all the future endless days.
You have everlasting standing in the divine favor of God who transformed you from within. That is the ‘glory’ of God’s grace, which enables you to ‘rejoice in suffering and tribulation.’
The verse describes ‘crushing pressure’ that cause one to ‘be burdened down with stress and trouble.’ What happens? The pressure squeezes out what is inside you.
What is inside you? The life and love and power of Jesus.
Everyone suffers. It is part of living in this grand but fallen world. You and I suffer with Christ. Look for the joy and the hope.
REALITY CHECK: Now, how are you feeling? I know. About the same or worse. Maybe you added some guilt to your pain and suffering. You read or listened to the words, but you feel the same. The suffering, pain, and grief are still here.
Go listen to God. The will of God is revealed in the Word of God.
GOD’S WORD REJOICES IN THE INFINITE GREATNESS AND IMMEASURABLE GOODNESS OF GOD.
How you think about God influences your emotional responses to suffering. I was taught that every person is either a little-godder or a Big-Godder. How you see your God predetermines how you respond to all the suffering, pain, and grief you experience in life.
Suffering is real and it hurts. But it has no worth in comparison to God’s future goodness stored up for your happiness.
I care about you. I hurt with you and pray for you that you will take all your suffering and place it on the scales of God’s Word.
It will not lessen the suffering, but it will lighten the load.
What a legacy to leave behind to your family, loved ones, and those who do not yet know the hope of Jesus Christ as they consider how you had such hope and love in the midst of all that suffering!
Share the not so secret but often forgotten reality about your suffering, which is limited in time, weight, and worth.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 