Our Present Sufferings

I have to admit that I am incredibly blest in my job. I do what I really love to do and get paid for it. Sure, there are disappointments and frustrations. The student who refuses to learn. The letter from a journal that is rejecting my research. But overall, I really enjoy what I do. Not everyone is like that. I've talked with people for whom going to work makes them not even want to get out of bed. Whether you are at either extreme or somewhere in the middle, there are always going to be frustrations, times where you really wish things had been different.

Romans 8 was meant for those times. Start with verse 18: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Our present sufferings are not even worth comparing! Wow. This passage gives me hope. A few verses later, Paul compares our present situation to pains of childbirth, which indicates an intense, but temporary pain that leads to something wonderful. In verse 28, we learn that God is working for good in ALL things. It doesn't say that all we'll experience will feel good, just that God is working for an overall good for us.

The rest of the chapter is a crescendo of comfort. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Remember that when your boss is coming down hard on you. God didn't even spare His own son for you. What can anyone do to you with such a loving, all-powerful being on your side. The whole chapter builds to the last verse. Absolutely nothing can separate us from God's love.

I hope this puts things in perspective for you the way that it does for me. Whether frustration in your job is an every-now-and-then occurrence or something that you face on a daily basis, take hope in this: Whatever situation you face, it is temporary. At the end of the day, all that matters is God.