This Present House

For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! ROMANS 8:18 AMP

A few points need to be emphasized from the today's extract:
1. Without any doubt, this life will have its challenges. I am yet to find any promise of a trial-free life from God; everything he talks about is strength, grace and power to stand in the face of these daunting challenges. 

2. You can only make it to the end by constantly depending on God alone. Faith in God holds on, even when present realities do not encourage hope. Faith in God says even if I do not understand the current circumstances, I know who is in charge.

3. It is this same faith that makes me believe that the end will be greater than the now. The only testimony in my heart is that God doesn't lie. If I can believe his promises, I can rest assured that he knows what he's doing and all he permits carries a greater good than my eyes can see now.

4. There is a glory being worked out in us now and a glory that is ahead. When you hear a man who has been held by God through difficult times, you can relate. When you sit down with a man who God has helped, you sense a total dependence on God and a complete lack of confidence in man's promises. The men of Jerusalem looked at the apostles and remembered that these unschooled ordinary men had been with Jesus. There was nothing else; just a definite encounter with Christ and the whole world knew the difference.

Can I speak just like the writer of this verse has spoken? Can I look back and see God's hand shaping my future even when the present is unclear? I hold on to the promise of the only One who can work out a perfect end from pieces of broken pottery. His time of favour is here.