It Is A Facet of this 1 dispensation that we all have problems in our lives, some more, some less. These are manifested in different ways: difficulties, pains and sorrows. In the aggregate they are known as afflictions. When things seem to happen all at once, when we are tired, when our worst fears are realized or when we have plummeted downward into an alarming cycle of depression, then our afflictions can become overwhelming and weigh us down.
We have a postal scale at home that weighs up to four ounces, which is one-fourth of a pound. Suppose I tried to weigh myself on it. I would certainly ruin the scale and probably squash it flat. That begins to illustrate how much greater the glory of God’s kingdom will be compared to the worst of this life. The glory to come counterbalances the problems now on the weight scale.
Comparative weights
But we don’t need homely examples to make it clear to us. After telling the Corinthians of his manifold difficulties, the apostle Paul makes the point that if we were to measure the weight of our afflictions, and compare it to the weight of eternal glory which is laid up for us in the kingdom, the most troublesome and care-torn problems would appear insignificant. He indicates that the weakness we experience as the result of our problems helps us to appreciate the unlimited and incomparable power and glory of the Lord. We should not be discouraged: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Cor. 4:16,17, NKJV).
Paul says we groan from the weight of our burdens and weakness of the flesh, longing to find release in immortality: “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (II Cor. 5:4). In Romans he says that we sigh with anxiety for the kingdom to come along with creation in general: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:22,23). All of creation recognizes the futility of life and the suffering it brings. The enlightened individual who knows the word of God may still groan from the pressure of everyday life and anxiety, but the emphasis has shifted from despair and despondency, to a vibrant positive hope.
Our present problems can be effective in character building, molding and strengthening us: “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). We need to change, but we won’t change unless there is pressure on us. The weight of our “afflictions” supplies that pressure.
The consequence of the fall
In the spiritual logic of the apostle, the blessings of the future far outweigh the sufferings of the present: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). The blessing will be the release from the curse of sin that holds not only human kind, but the whole of creation in its grip: “Because the creature itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).
The whole balance of nature was subject to change after the fall, and in consequence problems would affect the first pair and their progeny thereafter. From the highly fertile earth, thorns and thistles would now spring forth, some of the docile animals would become hostile to man and an abundance of insects would become annoying to both. Everything was now subject to death and decay; even mountains would erode under pressure from the elements. Mercifully, as children of God, we await the coming kingdom when all will be released from the punishing hold of corruption.
Trials of faith
Peter brings out another reason for our present difficulties. He states that they are trials of faith, testing that can result in salvation if our trust in the Lord remains firm. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ… receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls” (I Peter. 1:6,7, 9, NKJV).
How do we react to our problems? Do they act as a catalyst that draws us closer to God by the realization that we must rely on Him, or do they fill us with resentment, and demonstrate weakness of faith?
The Lord Jesus underwent severe trials and testing during his lifetime. These came to a climax in the extremely difficult days just prior to his crucifixion. The account of this period in the gospels makes for sad reading: the lack of understanding by his disciples, his betrayal by Judas, the abandonment by the disciples, his humiliation and ill treatment by the Jews, all must have compounded his natural anxiety as he contemplated his impending cruel death.
Our afflictions and trials fade when considered alongside those endured by the Master. The writer to the Hebrews encouraged his readers to take comfort and exhortation from this fact: “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb. 12:3).
A father disciplines
His earlier comments give us a little more insight into the subject of weight: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). The weight of our afflictions can hinder our running in the race. When combined with our sin-prone nature, the pressure of our trials can become an encumbrance and a negative force, unless we recognize the danger and deliberately set it aside in faith.
As the chapter in Hebrews progresses, the concept of trials and tribulations molding us into the image that the Lord requires is found once again. In this case the afflictions encountered on the path to the kingdom are termed “chastening:” “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Heb. 12:5-8). The recipients of the letter had forgotten that the proverbs taught a loving earthly parent constantly directs and instructs his child by discipline. How much more the necessity for our Heavenly Father to discipline and instruct His children through the medium of trials and tribulations.
Keeping the end in sight
Molding by chastening is certainly not pleasant, but it can be borne with faith in the knowledge that a loving God is directing us toward His eternal purpose in His kingdom: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb.12: 11).
The statement: “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Heb. 12:4), infers that however overwhelming the weight of our afflictions may be, they do not outweigh those borne by the Lord. His personal trials and temptations were of a great magnitude, yet he resisted sin unto death for our sake. This is the reason that we respond with deep gratitude and obey his commandment to remember him in the bread and the wine this morning.
Finding comfort
When problems and difficulties weigh us down, it is helpful to ponder and take comfort from the words of Paul, who endured the pressures of chastening and affliction in the knowledge of God’s love and faithfulness: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life…nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:33, 38-39).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One