Hope That Is Seen Is Not Hope

Paul confesses that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is yet to be revealed. Those who would become children of God and inherit that glory must also share in the sufferings of Christ.

Believing in God offers no way around suffering. Job held the same faith in his years of wealth as in the day he lost everything, and his friends’ condemnation did not shake him. He did not complain against God, because he knew that God’s grace had been given without condition.

The Spirit groans and prays on behalf of God’s people in their weakness, and takes them by the hand so that they do not fall. As they persevere with all their strength where they now stand, glory will be made complete on the day Christ returns.