From Groaning to Glory: Hope in Suffering

``There are sufferings and then there's glory. And if you could put all the difficulties of your life on the scale, all the sufferings on the scale, and you could put on the other side of the scale all the glory that will be be revealed to us one day. That is so much heavier than what we suffer here on this earth. [00:41:06] (44 seconds)  #GloryOutweighsSuffering

And I have even better news. Not only will dentists go out of business, but surgeons will go out of business. And cardiologists will go out of business, won't they? And even better than that, our mind decay will be there no longer. Our spiritual decay will be there no longer. It will all be removed. And the Christian point of suffering is to is to say this. Yes. It's bad, but it's not going to last forever. It's terrible, but this isn't the final story. This isn't the last chapter of my life. [00:50:55] (64 seconds)  #HopeBeyondDecay

We live in a frustrating world, don't we? Nothing works the way it's supposed to work. Right? It's a Murphy's Law universe that we live in. You buy something, it breaks. You fix, it works for a while, then it breaks again. Eventually, it wears out completely, then you have to replace it. And that's what Paul means when he says the creation is subjected to frustration. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing works right. [00:44:36] (46 seconds)  #NothingLastsForever

It's in you and me that God created. We don't work right either. Children are born with horrible defects. We get cancer. We get Alzheimer's. We get AIDS or some other debilitating disease. And if you and I live long enough, we have a stroke, a heart attack, or we grow senile and end up in a nursing home. And even though we may not like to face it, it's coming for all of us if we live long enough. There is no escape. [00:45:29] (49 seconds)  #HumanFragility

Well, there's four ways of dealing with suffering. Okay? And we'll put them up here on the screen. Number one is denial. Okay? This is where most of us begin in dealing with suffering. We deny it. We have this John Wayne mentality. Grit your teeth. Smile even when you're hurting, never let people see you sweat. And when someone is in denial, what do we do? We won't admit the truth, will we? [00:34:38] (43 seconds)  #StopDenyingPain

Number three, and we're all good at this at times, blaming others. We blame others for the problem, for the issue. It's not my fault. It's somebody else's fault. And that's a very popular option for many people. But the fourth option is the one I like. We accept it and we learn from it. You can deny it, you can get angry, you can blame someone else, or you can accept it and learn from it. [00:36:40] (42 seconds)  #AcceptAndLearn

The second thing is we get angry. That's the other next step in dealing with it. We get angry. We get bitter. We begin to shake our fist in the face of God. And when you and I don't deal with anger constructively, it affects every relationship in our lives, including our relationship with God, doesn't it? And, you know, the Bible indicates that it's impossible to go it's impossible to go through life angry and yet be in a warm relationship with God. You cannot hate your neighbor and love God at the same time. [00:35:41] (60 seconds)  #AngerHurtsFaith

Because in life, we either become a victim or we become a student. We learn from life's consequences and circumstances and trials. And we begin to ask our self, what have I learned from this? Okay? What is God trying to say to me? How can I grow closer to Christ in this painful experience? [00:37:45] (39 seconds)  #LearnerNotVictim