Something isn’t quite right.

As I drove around Cincinnati today, I listened to a long podcast featuring a trio of “thinkers” discussing and often disagreeing on what is going on in the world. Whether we are considered “thinkers” or not, I think we all know that at some level on a wide range of topics things are off kilter so that to say something isn’t quite right in our world is an understatement, isn’t it?

As followers of Christ, Paul reminds us that –

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 8: 22-25

We are living in the moment like the people who have gone before us, but Paul points out that our “groaning” is based on what we hope for. It reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 –

And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Matthew 24:4-8

Finally, give some thought to this quote from a favorite author of mine –

“We are destined for a glorious future, which is guaranteed precisely because the down payment of that future, the Spirit himself, is already our present possession. In giving us his Spirit, God has guaranteed our future. Thus, we live in the present, ‘already’ but ‘not yet.’”

Gordon Fee

So if you feel a bit distressed today, be reminded that today’s pain is temporary. Better things are ahead.