Future Glory...

I've had a lot of scripture verses rolling around in my head lately. Last week my Pastor preached on Romans 8:18-30. Sometimes I have to be reminded that this "suffering" I endure now is nothing compared to what Christ has endured for us & also that it is about HIS glory, not mine.

"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death & decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to this present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain & suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently & confidently.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. 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 in harmony with God's own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God & are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, & he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers & sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, & he promised them his glory."
Romans 8:18-30 NLT