Where I work, they have placed televisions around the lobbies and break areas. They have seating designed around each. The televisions are tuned into an all-day news channel. (They didn’t ask my opinion or I would have told them watching all-day news is not how I want to take a “break” from work.)
Usually the news is all about politics, but recently it has been about hurricanes and earthquakes and the resulting damages. I sat for a few minutes last week and watched rescue crews in Mexico City dig through the rubble of a school. It was heartbreaking.
In last Sunday’s message, we looked at the issue of suffering in this world. We began with Romans 8:18: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
That word “consider” means to reckon or ponder. What it says to us is that before Paul wrote those words in his letter to the Romans, he thought a great deal about present sufferings. He looked at it through “biblical eyes.”
The only way we can handle the heartbreaking suffering in this life is to do as Paul did, to consider our present suffering in the light of biblical perspective. How we handle that will determine whether we will grow through suffering or be destroyed by it. More tomorrow.
Father, help us to consider our suffering through the eyes of Your Spirit. Amen.
