Skip to main content

Romans 8:25: But If We Hope For What We Do Not See, We Wait For It With Patience


Romans 8:25
[25] But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (ESV)

I love Christmas. I remember being a small child waiting for Christmas to come. Somewhere in November the three big department store Christmas catalogs would come out. I would page through the J.C. Penney, Sears, and Montgomery Ward Christmas catalogs, pausing to tell my parents what particular toy I could not live without.

From the time those catalogs arrived until Christmas morning seemed like an eternity. There would be special parties at school. There were Christmas programs both at school and church, but they all just seemed to taunt me that it was almost Christmas, but not yet! I hoped for Christmas, but I did not see it yet.

We hope for what we do not see. We know what it will be like. We have read the catalog. Scripture describes for us something far better than toys under a tree. We are told of a place where there will be no more suffering. There will be no more sin. The greatest thing that we hope for is to be face to face with the one who died to set us free from sin.

Paul says that we wait with patience. I would love to say that I always wait with patience for the promise of God. Sometimes my human struggle gets in the way and I am again like that small child thinking that what was promised will never come. It is precisely at that moment when I need to look back at the faithfulness of God. He has never failed at any promise he has made. I can wait a bit longer.

Are you overwhelmed by suffering? Struggling with sin? Desiring more than anything to see the Savior face to face? Wait just a little longer. Read his Word like a small child looking through the Christmas catalog. We are almost there.

Comments

  1. We do hope for what we don't yet see, but that patience part is a bit of a challenge. It says something about our level of maturity. A child wants it NOW. An adult is supposed to be able to accept delayed gratification.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 8:18: For I Consider That The Sufferings Of This Present Time Are Not Worth Comparing

Romans 8:18 [18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (ESV) Perspective. What an important word. Let's be honest. We do not like the idea of suffering. We will do almost anything to avoid any kind of suffering. Some churches have gone so far as to preach against the idea of suffering, declaring it to not be a part of the true believer's life. Paul is not shy about the topic. Paul uses the sufferings of this present time as a means to consider the greater glory that awaits us. Perspective. Paul is not in any way attempting to diminish our suffering. A view toward eternity puts our suffering in a proper understanding. Yes, our suffering is terrible. In the grand scheme of eternity it is not even worth comparison. Maybe you are thinking that Paul does not know what he is talking about when it comes to suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul describes countless beatings, often near death,

Romans 11:24: For If You Were Cut From What Is By Nature A Wild Olive Tree, And Grafted, Contrary To Nature, Into A Cultivated Olive Tree . . .

Romans 11:24 [24] For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. (ESV) We continue looking at the illustration of an olive tree. The root of the tree is the covenant relationship relationship of God with Abraham. Abraham's faith is what this spiritual tree is built on. The first branches would have been the faithful people of Israel, who like Abraham, placed their faith in God. They believed God, just like Abraham, and it was credited to them as righteousness. There were branches of the people of Israel who never placed their faith in God. Because these branches were not true followers of God they were broken off of the tree. Faith in God was the essential element that made the branches true branches of this spiritual tree. Some branches remained. Others, the faithless unbelievers, were removed. After Jesu

Romans 15:20-21: And Thus I Make It My Ambition To Preach The Gospel, Not Where Christ Has Already Been Named

Romans 15:20–21 [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, [21] but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (ESV) We need to be reminded continually that the message of the Gospel is intended to move all across the world. Jesus said that his followers were to preach the Gospel, starting in Jerusalem, and continue preaching the Gospel to the whole world. Christians have not always been good at delivering the Gospel message as far and as often as they should. In the first century church it took intense persecution to motivate the disciples in Jerusalem to bring the Gospel to Judea and Samaria. Once the disciples fled to new regions they shared the Gospel wherever they went. Would the disciples have preached the Gospel without the persecution? We may never know. Some probably would have stayed in their co