Suffering is the normal experience for all mankind, yet Christians can become shaken, disheartened, and angry—and even slip into apathy and hedonism—when suffering strikes. But rather than respond in self-pity, as believers, we must understand that we’re heirs of the sufferings of Christ. Even as we’re part of a creation that was subjected to futility by God, we should groan in hope as we wait for glory. How do we do this? First, rejoice that God is in control when suffering comes. Second, set our minds on things above. And, third, trust in God’s Word, not in our emotions. This is how we make peace with our suffering. 

 

So here we are at Romans 8, 17 through 25, and we have another example of how God is so kind to help his people grow up and specifically to help them go through suffering. He teaches his people how to make peace with their suffering. We live in a fallen world and In this passage, God makes it really clear that suffering is the normal experience. And I'm going to draw out four things that he wants us to know to mature us in our understanding of suffering. And the first is that we are heirs of the sufferings of Christ.

We suffer because He suffered. And then we're also part of a creation that waits for glory. And we're also part of a creation that was subjected to futility by God. And we groan in hope within ourselves. So that's what the passage is teaching.

The word hope is the central focus. It's mentioned six times in these verses and it's all in the context of a deteriorating world that the world was subjected to futility by God. And this is really easy to understand. I think about my dad, you know, he died when he was 97 years old, but long before that he was losing his hearing. Then he had macular degeneration.

And so you cannot stop this process of the creation groaning. And one of the problems that we have is that we respond wrongly to suffering. Here are some other ways that we respond wrongly. First of all, we're surprised. This passage of Scripture is telling us, don't be surprised.

Second, we might be shaken. Third, we might be disheartened. Fourth, we might get angry. Fifth, we might slip into avoidance through drugs and hedonism. Sixth, maybe through resignation and apathy and inactivity and not getting out of bed in the morning.

We might doubt our salvation, we might doubt God, but maybe one of the most harmful ones is self-pity. And also, the whole creation is in this same situation. That means it's not just happening to us. God is not picking on us. We're not being isolated.

The whole creation is groaning and we are part of that creation. So what should a Christian do? First of all, rejoice that God is in control. Rejoice that he has everything in his hand. And this is really, let's call it an eschatology of hope.

That History is moving in the right direction. And so what should you do? Set your mind on the things that are above. Set your mind on the things that will calibrate your emotions and your thinking to this whole scheme that God has for us. And to really trust in His word, not on our emotions, when we engage in suffering.

Trust the Lord. He has everything under control. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture Applied is a production of Church and Family Life. Visit ChurchandFamilyLife.com for more resources.