Brown's Daily Word 5-21-08

Good Morning,
One of my favorite passages from the Bible is found in Romans 8:18-25, (King James Version), "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberation of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstborn fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Throughout life, we hope for many things! Sometimes, we lose hope, because we find ourselves having to deal with tragedies beyond our imagination, such as cancer, loss of a loved one, loss of a job, failed relationships, and so on. As we experience these different tragedies of life, it is difficult to deal with them, both emotionally and spiritually. Who hasn’t struggled with demoralizing seasons of dark depression? Some get so low and stay there so long, that they contemplate suicide, taking their own lives, because that pathway seems better than enduring the depression any longer. Others seem to go in and out, up and down, seemingly able to get back up after every tragedy. Someone once described depression as "a black hole, an abysmal cave." It certainly includes discouraging feelings that simply refuse to go away. Yet, even in the midst of turmoil and strife, tragedy and despair, Christians have "Perfect Hope!" We can do that because we find ourselves focused on the greater reality of what is yet to come as a result of our relationship with Jesus, the Christ! Paul’s confidant hope was that, in the future, the cloud of suffering would burn off and reveal a day of blazing glory. Whatever sufferings we might go through in this life, even though they are difficult, will fade into insignificance when Almighty God pulls the covers off what He has planned for His people. The Apostle Paul tells us, in Romans 8:19 (NLT), "For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children are." The words "waiting eagerly" are a translation of one word which carries the idea of watching with the head erect and outstretched. It’s like waiting for your best friend, whom you haven’t seen for years, to arrive on the plane. You keep going to the arrival window and craning your neck to see if the aircraft is arriving yet. The Apostle Paul personifies creation as waiting eagerly for the revealing of the children of God. Why would the created universe be anxiously looking forward to that future day when the children of God are revealed? In Revelation 21:4 (NLT) we read, "He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever."
The French clergyman and author, Thomas Merton (1915 - 1968), once wrote, "’Perfect Hope’ is achieved on the brink of despair when instead of falling over the edge, we find ourselves walking on the air. Hope is always just about to turn into despair, but never does so, for at the moment of supreme crisis, God’s power is suddenly made perfect in our infirmity." Christians are not exempt from the suffering that came into the world when Adam sinned. We are not strangers to tragedy and calamity; we are no strangers to decline and decay. Current global and national events have been a staggering reminder, a wake-up call, to the fact that the world we live in is a fallen one. That is why we look forward so eagerly to the time of adoption as sons and daughters of Almighty God! Those who have been honed and buffeted, bruised and melted in the furnace of affliction, but who have then emerged with emotional stabilty and inner fortitude, are the ones who have a ministry in the lives of others. Their weakness is like a magnet, for when they were weak, our Lord God Almighty was strong! He is ever strong and ever faithful.
In Him,
Brown

All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors. ... John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion