Even When the World is Groaning // Run the Race to the End, Part 4

A Different Perspective Official Podcast

Ever felt like – well, like it was all too much. That you’re groaning under the weight of life. And you look around at everyone else. They’re groaning too. It seems like it’s work, work, work. There’s no hope anymore. We’ve all been there.

This week on the program, well, over the last few weeks, we've been looking at running the race and winning the prize. Running the race of life and winning the prize of eternal life at the end. But this week we're kind doing something a bit different. We're looking at running the race to the end, right to the end. Because in any race, people want to give up. We get hot, we get tired. Not just our bodies but our hearts and our minds. We get blisters on our feet too. And we want to give up sometimes. Any marathon runner will tell you that at some point they want to give up. It's par for the course.

So I started having a poke around through the Bible to see what it said about this whole 'giving up' thing. And you know, I was amazed how much God has to say on that. Maybe it's because He knows how common it is for us to want to, well, give up the race.

So often, the people that the letters of the New Testament were being written to at the time, were suffering persecutions and trials of all kinds. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10:

Brother will betray brother to death and the father, his child. And children will rise up against parents and have them put to death and you'll be hated by all because of my name but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

See, persevering to the end is a really strong theme as it turns out. And that makes this weeks programs, I think, really important.

See it's so easy to give up along the way. Sometimes the pressure of following Jesus, well it's incredibly tough. I was talking with a man just the other day and he was sharing part of his journey with me. He'd stepped out, in faith, into business. He did it ethically. He could have taken advantage of his clients but he didn't. He did it with a good heart. He did it for God. He wanted to give money away. And yet, before he knew it, it was looking like he was going to lose his home and his family were living off food donations.

See these sorts of things really do happen. Bad things happen to good people. People who've decided to live out their lives for Jesus. Who make sacrifices for Him. So often things end up going from bad to worse. We end up groaning under the weight of it all.

Well the Apostle Paul actually talks about that. That sense that we're groaning under the weight of it all. Have a listen to what he writes to the Church in Rome. If you're interested it comes from Romans chapter 8, starts at verse 18. He said:

I consider the sufferings of this present time, they're not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now and not only the creation but we ourselves. We who have the first fruits of the spirit. We groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved and hope that is seen isn't hope. For who hopes for what is being seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

We've all been there haven't we, groaning under the weight? I can't relate to groaning in labour pains as Paul writes. I haven't experienced that. But it's the sense that something new is being born but there's pain involved.

See, so often we groan under the weight of life. Under the pressure. And it feels hopeless. It feels like there's no tomorrow. You turn to the evening news and that's full of hopelessness. And you turn around and look at the people around you and they're groaning under the weight of life. With a sense of lostness and purposelessness and hopelessness. The whole creation seems to be groaning just as Paul writes.

But here's the interesting thing. Paul gives us a whole different perspective on that. See, through the worlds eyes it is hopeless. But when you look at it through Gods eyes, from His perspective, the groaning the Paul is talking about here is birth pangs. It's about ushering in a new age. This present age is nothing compared to that.

Let's look at it again. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us." Paul's taking an eternal perspective. One day, he is saying, Jesus is coming back. One day all this stuff is going to change. And you might say to be, "Oh Berni please, do you really believe that stuff?" Absolutely I do 'cause that's exactly, exactly what God promised. And when you set the suffering of this present day in a context of the eternal glory, of a new order, it pales into insignificance.

These days we don't look much beyond today or tomorrow. Things are so bad in so many peoples lives they've stopped even dreaming about the future let alone hoping in eternity. There's a beautiful song. It's one of my favourite songs. It's by "Mercy Me". And it's called I Can Only Imagine. And it's a song sung to Jesus about when we are with Him. Have a listen to the words just at the beginning.

I can only imagine what it will be like when I walk by your side. I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me. I can only imagine surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you, be still? Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.

Paul’s calling us to lift up our eyes. To set them fairly and squarely on eternity. And see the suffering and the groaning of this present age for what it is. The birth pangs of eternity.

We know the whole creation’s been groaning in labour pains until now. Not just the creation but we ourselves. We who have the first fruits of the spirit. We groan inwardly whist we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that's seen isn't hope. For who hopes for what they can see. But if we hope for what we can't see, we wait for it in patience.

And what we have is hope. Not an uncertain hope. Not a hit and miss hope. A certain hope. And the whole point of hope is that it can't be hope if you can see it all now. That's Gods plan. To live out the life He's got planned for us now. To go through all the trials and all the suffering. To run the race for the sake of the hope, the eternal glorious hope, that He's set before us. The joy and the peace. Do you get it? There's a beautiful future.

You know, here in this life, some days we have bad days. Some years we've have bad years and other ones, we have good ones. But can I tell you something? When we're living in the knowledge that there's an eternal future. When we're living in the knowledge that there's something better coming. Even the bad days. Even the worse days are days when we can experience the peace and the joy of God. Jesus knew that. Jesus was the pioneer and the perfector of our faith. "And He, for the sake of the joy that was set before Him, he endured the cross."

What will it be like when we're with Him? God only gives us a glimpse. Just opens the door a crack to let the glory of heaven shine out a little bit. What will it be like? I can only imagine. I can only imagine. But let me tell you something. When you and I have run the race to the end. When we've endured the trials and when we're with Him for eternity, the suffering along the way won't seem like anything at all.

Lift up your eyes. Set them on heavenly things. The things that are above. God wants us to do that. Hope in the eternal prize that's set before us. Don't lose that hope. Don't give up. Yes, there are trials and hurts, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved."