<\/p>\n
\u201cFor I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us\u201d (Romans 8:18).<\/p>\n
WHEN WE\u2019RE DISCOURAGED AND WE\u2019RE THINKING ABOUT TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT, IT\u2019S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE VALUE OF THE THINGS WE\u2019RE REACHING FOR. Life with God is a treasure worth any price that ever has to be paid to receive it \u2014 and more important, the privilege of simply being a person through whom God can glorify Himself ought to mean more to us than anything else in the here or the hereafter. Whatever we\u2019re giving up, what we\u2019re getting is what we want to get most of all, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
When the price seems too painful to bear and we wish we could get back what we\u2019ve given up, we need to recall how we evaluated things when we originally \u201ccounted the cost.\u201d Like the Olympic athlete who never forgets his original decision (that the rewards of discipline and training are worth<\/em> more than those of ease and indulgence, and that he wants<\/em> the former more than he wants the latter), we must remember that \u201cthe sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.\u201d When the life of discipleship turns out to be hard, the wise Christian will say, \u201cYes, but I\u2019d still rather have the \u2018minuses\u2019 I have right now than the \u2018minuses\u2019 that would go with any other set of \u2018pluses\u2019. The tradeoff is well worth it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n We should not let Satan deceive us as to the true value of things. When we barter with him, he has a way of making the things outside of God\u2019s will seem more valuable than they really are, and he carefully conceals the deadly downside of disobedience. He is, after all, the ultimate \u201ccon artist.\u201d Yet we are not helpless in our struggle against him. Faith \u2014 real trust in God\u2019s goodness \u2014 is the quality that can keep us in touch with reality. No matter what life looks like in the short term, and no matter what sacrifices are asked of us, we have good reason to believe that God is telling us the truth: what\u2019s ahead is worth reaching for.<\/em> If we forget that, we\u2019re in danger of being seriously misled.<\/p>\n \u201cWe master fear through faith \u2014 faith in the worthwhileness of life and the trustworthiness of God; faith in the meaning of our pain and our striving, and confidence that God will not cast us aside but will use each one of us as a piece of priceless mosaic in the design of his universe\u201d (Joshua Loth Liebman).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n