Life Is Hard: A Study for TeensSample

# GLORY ### By Sean Fryer “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”— Romans 8:18 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”— 2 Corinthians 4:17 What if I told you that I would give you one billion dollars if I could just poke you with a needle?  Would you let me do it? Let me give you a little more info before you decide. It will hurt. It might cause you to bleed. You might even have a scar that reminds you of the moment you got stuck with a needle for the rest of your life. You may be scared of needles and pass out in the moment, you may even be kicking and screaming as that needle comes. Now, here’s the kicker . . . After you’re poked with the needle, I tell you to reach into your pocket, and sitting there is a check for one billion dollars! This may sound like a crazy scenario, but this is very much what our suffering and trials on earth are like. The apostle Paul, the same guy who was beaten, imprisoned, and shipwrecked, said, “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” He even goes on to call them “light and momentary troubles.” How can someone who suffered so much say that about his trials? It’s because of the glory. What God has for us is “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). When you’re poked with a needle, it hurts, it’s painful; it might even be traumatic! But imagine that feeling of reaching in your pocket and seeing that billion dollar check. See the symbolism here? I’m not saying money can make our trials easier, I’m saying a small poke of a needle is nothing compared to a billion dollars! And listen to this: After the whole experience, you may find yourself thinking, “Wait . . . that billion dollars was in my pocket the whole time!” That’s true, but you needed it to be revealed to you. The glory God has for you will be revealed in you. All the trials and suffering is God just chipping away parts of us and revealing more of Him. It’s been said that as Michaelangelo was making his famous David sculpture, he was asked how he did it.  His response? “It’s easy . . . you just chip away the stone that doesn’t look like David.” God is chipping away the parts of us that don’t look like His Son! It’s a process known as sanctification, it’s how we become more and more like Jesus every day. And it’s a process that will take our whole life until we get to see the eternal glory. But it’s also a process He promises to finish! “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).