Published earlier today on Network Norfolk:
First, a
brief disclaimer; this intention of this article is not to explore the deep
topic of the growth that comes from suffering - I have lots of material on that
in my other blogs - this is more of a niche article in response to sceptics who
say they can't believe in a God who allows so much suffering. Therefore, the
narrowness is somewhat deliberate in that regard, and shouldn't be seen to
contradict the truths about growth and transformation through suffering.
If you were offered three seconds of pain in exchange for 100 years of bliss - filled with joy, security, pleasure, and contentment - you’d likely take the deal without hesitation. The offer seems almost absurd in its generosity. And yet, the span of a human life, with all its joys and struggles, is even more fleeting compared to the infinite glory of eternity than three seconds compared to a century.
The promise of eternal bliss in Heaven doesn’t scrub out the intensity of the suffering we face (although God’s peace and comfort is profound throughout), but if, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”, then even the instant we step into eternity and become aware of our Heavenly state in the presence of God will astronomically eclipse the whole totality of our earthy hardships.
For we have to conceive that the good and the joy we find in God’s presence, His love and His glory will be so astoundingly good beyond what we can currently imagine that it will utterly redefine our understanding of the creation story, rendering even the greatest earthly suffering insignificant in comparison.
I think the above is both comprehensive from a rational and logical perspective, but also modestly understated from an experiential and spiritual perspective. Because the corollary of the above is that every day we live our lives with the potential awareness and available joy that our Creator God is more awesome and more for us than we can possibly comprehend. And that His plan for those who love Him and seek a deeper relationship with Him is so much greater than what we could hope, that it should transform how we approach each moment, filling even the ordinary with a profound sense of purpose and wonder, knowing that our ultimate destiny far surpasses anything we can currently imagine or hope to experience.
