Temporary Trouble & Eternal Glory

I can't seem to get away from something that I posted a while back. "Our perseverance testifies of the power of the Treasure within us. When others see our troubles overshadowed by the light of His strength shining through us, they are in fact receiving the Good News of Christ." 

While I used II Corinthians 4:8-10 as a text for that post, it is the later portion of the chapter that speaks of the fleeting nature of our afflictions and the eternal nature of the glory that is revealed as we endure them.

In Romans 8:18, the Apostle Paul wrote "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." 

It is the revealed glory of God at work in us that draws others to Him. When they see us suffering in pain without complaint, when they see us bereaved, but putting our feelings aside to comfort someone else, and when they know we are financially strapped and yet we will give to the needy, that is when they see Christ. That is what will draw them to inquire about the source of our strength & compassion. That is when the lost will open their doors to the Gospel.

If the very thought that our malady is temporary is enough to give us a measure of hope; how much more should we be comforted knowing that the Holy Spirit is making intercessions for us.

"So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.We are assured and know that [[j]God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose." Romans 8:26-28 Amplified Version

" I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit[a] to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again." Acts 20:19 -25 NLT