“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait.” ~Romans 8:23

Our Scriptures do not hide the fact that disciples of the Christ do suffer. In fact, the Bible highlights it. As people who identify with and follow the One who came to overturn the values of this world, we’re going to inevitably share in the rejection and the trials Jesus suffered himself. Creation groans. We groan. The Spirit groans.

That’s just the way it is.

Committed Christian living always rubs the world the wrong way at some point. And it leads to suffering. But those sufferings — which are happening right now and are very real — don’t even begin to compare to the glory, which is also a very present and very real thing.

The glory already exists. It’s already a done deal. It’s just not fully given to us yet. It’s just not fully revealed to us yet.

Not yet.

We live in the tension of Scripture’s “already, but not yet.” The Kingdom of God, our eternal salvation, the defeat of sin and death, our Lord’s ultimate reign — it’s here. It’s already happened. And, at the same time, it’s all still to come. So we wait. And while we wait, we groan.

“We hope for what we do not yet have and we wait for it patiently.” ~Romans 8:25

Lord, come quickly.

Allan