In his sermon this week, Dave Stone, of South East Christian Church, uses Romans 8:18-30 to minister on suffering. And I strongly recommend listening to this awesome message, which you can do at this link.

But I want to share with you one of the stories that really spoke to me. It’s a true story from the sermon. A man, W.T. had recently had a heart attack. His friend, Bob, asked him, “How did you like having your heart attack/”

“Well,” the man responded, “How did I like having a heart attack? It scared me to death.”

Bob then asked, “Would you like to have another one?”

“No!” said WT.

The friend went on to ask, “Would you recommend others have a heart attack?”

“Definitely not” answered the man, a little perplexed and puzzled.

His friend then changed his line of questioning. “Does life mean more to you now than before your attack?”

“Yes”, replied the man.

“I know you and Fran have always been close but are you closer to your wife now that you have suffered your heart attack?” he asked.

“No question about it,” said the man.

“Do you hold your granddaughter tighter now than before?” the questioning went on.

“Better believe it,” the man replied.

“Do you have more compassion, deeper understanding and sympathy towards others who are or have suffered?” the man asked.

“Absolutely!” the man answered.

“I will ask you again, how did you like having your heart attack?” the final question being asked.

This last question was met with silence – the point had been made.

Of course I cried, like I often do when God finally gets me to understand – especially something that hits so close to home and I realize how often I have felt sorry for myself instead of praising God for what He is doing for me.

Certainly not that we enjoy suffering but the point that I would like to stress to go along with Pastor Stone is that God promises suffering, but He also promises that it all works for our good and the glory of the Lord. He also shares in the message, that we can go through the exact same situation as someone else, and that one person can grow from it and the other can be destroyed. One can be knowing; one can be simply wishing; one can be hoping; one can be moping!

We all know the pain and suffering of a troubled marriage. The question is, do we embrace what God is doing in our lives, and Lord knows that isn’t easy, or do we let it destroy us? Do we grow in our relationship with God? Do we know what His promise is for restoration? Do we wait expectantly with hope, or do we let evil destroy us?

The following verses tell us what God wants us to do and what He has and will do for us. He provides the Holy Spirit in us to do the things that we can’t and to bring to Him the thoughts and concerns that we may not even know are there or for some reason cannot get them lifted at particular times. God has us covered, no matter what the circumstances are in our lives. We just need to know, believe, trust and obey!

Romans8:18-30 (NLT)
The Future Glory
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[a] including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope[b] for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[c] in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together[d] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Posted Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 7:25 am in Seeds Of Faith.