Endurance and looking towards the future
Image via Wikipedia “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 It is far easier to endure trials when we value the future over the present. A few years ago the popular Back to the Future movies dealt rather whimsically with the possibility of time travel , which always involved entering the future. The recurring theme was that with all the complications of tampering with the future, it was better to live in the present. Viewers could infer that, ultimately, it is not worth it to dwell a lot on the future. That is just the opposite of the apostle Paul ’s attitude about the future. He dealt with the profound certainties of what awaits all believers in the life to come. For Paul, the value of the future was another important reason he could endure life’s sufferings and trials. The temporal pain for him and us is inconsequential compared to what awaits us in Heaven (Rom. 8:18). Tr