Life on Earth is full of trials, hardships, sadness, disappointments, and pain. The older you become, the more you will see these things. The apostle Paul, however, helps us to keep these troubling realities of life in their proper perspective. In Romans 8:18 he wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Paul was essentially saying, “Yes, I understand that life involves significant suffering. But when you lay it alongside the glory that will one day be ours in eternity, it doesn’t even register on the scale.” If fact, God will use these difficult situations and experiences in our lives for our good, and one day (not so very long from now) every wrong in our lives will be righted. Pains will be healed, sorrow will be eradicated, and God will make up for all that we have lost here on Earth. Again, Paul gives us a perspective that will help us walk through our troubles and heartaches found in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever” (The Message). It all boils down to this: No matter how much you try, you can’t control all of the events and circumstances in your life. Pain and sorrow will come knocking on your door in some way whether you like it or not. So how are you going to deal with it? Will you allow it to embitter you, sidetrack you, or put you under a permanent cloud, or will you use it for God’s glory? How do you do that? That’s a great question. I will use two names to answer that, Joni Eareckson Tada and Nick Vujicic. Joni, as a 17 year old teenager, dove in a shallow body of water that broke her neck. As a result, she will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down. She is now 74 years old. Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. Both Joni and Nick have turned a disability into an ability. They have not wasted their pain but have turned their lives over to the Lord and continue to trust and obey Him. They have impacted millions of people for the Lord. I can’t imagine the countless lives that would not have been touched if they chose to live in bitterness, underneath their pain. To think that all the pain and tragedies of this world does not begin to compare with the wonders God has waiting for us just around the corner, in Heaven. The hope of Heaven helps us to become heavenly minded no matter how great the pain, loss, or disillusion. Spend some time pondering the things to come as we endure times of trial on this side of Heaven. Heaven will be for eternity while we spend just a small portion of our life on this Earth. Speaking of Heaven, I believe we had a very small taste of heaven during our Night of Worship. I enjoy so much hearing the testimonies of new life and seeing the Family of God encourage and inspire one another. I am so glad I am part of the Family of God. May God continue to show us His glory as we give Him all glory and honor. Joy in Jesus! Pastor Mike
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Rev. Mike McClurgSenior Pastor, Findlay First Church of the Nazarene Archives
March 2020
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