Romans 8:16-25: a reflection

16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. 18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. 19For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. 23Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. 24For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? 25But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

Paul does not minimize suffering; he acknowledges that we groan, and that the whole creation groans, waiting. But he sets that suffering on a scale against something else: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. He does not say the sufferings are small; he says that weighed against the coming glory, they are outweighed beyond comparison. The glory ahead is so great that even real, heavy suffering does not tip the scale against it.

Notice that this is a considered judgment, not a denial. I consider, Paul says; he has done the weighing. He knows the groaning is real, in creation and in us. But he also knows what is coming, the revealing of the children of God, the redemption of our very bodies, the creation itself set free, and he judges that the two are not in the same category. Present pain is heavy; future glory is heavier still.

And notice how we live in the meantime: in hope. We were saved in hope, Paul says, and hope that is seen is not hope; we wait for what we do not yet see, with patience. The glory is not yet here; we hope for it, groan toward it, and wait. If you are in a season of suffering, Paul does not tell you it is nothing. He tells you to weigh it honestly against the glory to come, to let that comparison steady you, and to wait in patient hope for what you cannot yet see. The present groaning is real, and it is not the end of the story.

Lord, my present sufferings are real and heavy, and I groan under them. Help me do what Paul did, to weigh them honestly against the glory that is to be revealed, and to find that it far outweighs them. In the meantime, teach me to wait in patient hope for what I cannot yet see, trusting that the groaning is not the end of the story.