When you have something good to look forward to, it softens the blow of what you’re currently going through.

We all know it’s true.

If a child doesn’t want to go to school on a Thursday, remind them that the weekend is almost here and it helps.

If you’re having a tough week, and if you have a fun gathering with friends to look forward to, you’re better able to buckle down and get it done.

If you have a cast on your arm, and if the cast is coming off in a few weeks, and if your baseball season starts a few weeks after that, the burden of a cast gets a little lighter.

Light at the end of the tunnel has a way of shining backward to the one who sees it.

That’s the idea behind Paul’s thinking in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” One day, all of God’s creation “will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (verses 18, 30).

He offers a reminder that life’s current difficulties are not the end of the story. Sooner or later they will come to an end, all suffering will cease, and glory will be revealed to and in Jesus’ followers.

Difficulty is a comma, not a period, in the language of eternity.

So, do you have something good to look forward to?

If you’re a follower of Jesus, the answer is Yes. Remind yourself about God’s eternal and amazing promises that are yours.

And if you still need some help for your day-to-day life, plan something good—maybe an outing with friends, a Saturday adventure, or a new experience that reminds you who God made you to be.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

When you have something good to look forward to, it softens the blow of what you’re currently going through.

By Matthew Ruttan

–This devotional is connected to my most recent sermon: “The problem with religion.” You can watch or listen here.
–Bible quotes are from the NIV.