“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
In the span of the eternal, earthly suffering is nothing. Anyone who is with Jesus now is at final rest and peace and no longer bound to the suffering they faced on the earth. In the earthly understanding of time, the longer they spend in eternity, the further removed they are from the pain they suffered or had to endure on this earth. Revelations 21:4 says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” This is a promise of our heavenly state of glory. It is something that brings me great peace in my current circumstance.
Right now, my injury doesn’t feel light or momentary and the promise, while true, is hard to settle into. To some of you that have been suffering for longer then I can even think about, I am sure at times that your affliction doesn’t seem light or momentary either. Earthly suffering is very hard to endure. It is not easy to live with the loss of your old self. Some afflictions, like mine, are hard to get a grip on as the symptoms don’t hold a pattern. My body is doing what it needs, in order to heal. I have to trust the healing process and lean on the Lord to endure it…grasping desperately to the truth that once was so easy to hold onto. I have to battle the fear of being left with such a complex injury. I have to wrestle daily with God’s sovereignty and power.
I have found the sovereignty of God to be both comforting and scary. That may be hard for some people to accept but knowing that God could cause me to have a longer healing time is difficult as I am dealing with so much suffering right now. However, I also am comforted that I won’t go a minute more then He ordained and that my suffering is producing an eternal weight of glory. There is a lot of dualism present in scripture so I feel that it’s okay for me to feel the same about God’s sovereignty. Personally, I feel that if God’s sovereign power doesn’t comfort and confound you, you have a very small view of God. God is beyond us, in every way.
I believe there is both an earthly and heavenly purpose to my suffering and that this is true for every one of us. I don’t think that we always know what it is but I do know that there is one. I know that God is good and whatever He does is good (Psalm 119:68) so I hold fast to that and proclaim it in spite of my suffering. If nothing else, let my present suffering, as I am in great pain and anguish as I write this, bring Him glory as I praise His name. Right now, right here, I proclaim that God is good. Right now I worship the Lord in spirit and truth. Right now I believe that He is the same good God that I once worshipped with my healthy body and mind!
But right now my suffering also sucks big time!!! There goes that dualism again!
If you are struggling and need some encouragement, please feel free to reach out to me. We can journey this road together. Please pray for me as I wake to battle another day and pray if you feel led, that the Lord would grant swift healing.