Photo by Dmitry Grigoriev

“But resurrection is not just consolation — it is restoration. We get it all back — the love, the loved ones, the goods, the beauties of this life — but in new, unimaginable degrees of glory and joy and strength.”

— Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

As I pruned a tree last summer, a bee angrily darted from its hiding spot and drove its stinger into my nose. Although I iced it and took Benadryl, my cheeks and eyes continued to swell. I was afraid I would have an anaphylactic response. Fortunately, I didn’t. However, the allergic reaction left my face severely disfigured for almost a week and prompted my doctor to prescribe an Epi-Pen.

This was serious, but, relatively small in terms of the problems I’ve faced. The degree of our suffering varies, yet all traumas capture our attention and steal our peace. More severe trials consume our vitality, like a candle burning down to its last flicker. How can a person see beyond their distress?

Although the apostle Paul suffered from natural disasters, unjust imprisonment, beatings, and constant endangerment, he viewed these trials with an eternal perspective. His suffering seemed comparatively small in light of God’s magnificent glory ahead. He said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18 NIV)

God gave Paul unique insight which emboldened his faith to make such a claim. He visited heaven, encountered Jesus in blinding light on the road to Damascus, and received surpassingly great revelations from Jesus. Paul’s anticipation of future glory kept him moving toward his heavenly prize. He marched through suffering confident as a soldier certain of victory. To all of us living after him, his message resounds with hope, “Keep going, glory is ahead!”

Although our earthly lives may not get better this side of heaven, as followers of Jesus, we have hope for eternity with God. It may be difficult to imagine, but our trials now will seem comparatively small in heaven. It’s not that our suffering loses its significance, it’s that the goodness of God, in all its glory, will outweigh it a million times over. We will get healthy glorified bodies, like the resurrected Jesus, and live in a beautiful undefiled world. There will be no violence, hate, or crime. Our King will reign with justice and love, forever. His righteous glory will be revealed IN us. This is the glory that overshadows our pain.

From small wounds to terrible heartbreak, it will all be over.

Glory is coming.

For further study on the theme of suffering, see Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller

Photo by Patrice Sanders

“May sunshine surround you each new day. And may smiles and love never be far away. ”

— Catherine Pulsifer

“Pretty morning, huh?” my husband texted after arriving to work. What, it’s a pretty morning? I hadn’t noticed yet. Not wanting to miss the sunrise, I grabbed my winter coat and walked out to the deck for a better view. Its wood planks glistened with ice crystals and newly formed puddles touched by the sun. In the distance, rays of sunlight shot over wintery peaks, casting their radiance low and bright across our green lawn. I breathed in the cold morning air and mused over the possibility that I was witnessing the seasons change at that very moment. Even the sound of my footsteps made me smile as I went to move my car before the painters arrived. My shoes caught and released their grip on the frost-covered steps as if they too were letting go of winter and welcoming spring.

After a dark, rainy winter in the Pacific Northwest, spring is something to marvel at. This week, the inside of our home has been especially dim, not because of winter, but from the opaque painter’s wrap covering our windows. Unable to see through the film, our house feels strangely enclosed, drab, and claustrophobic. If my husband had not encouraged me to look outside, I would have missed a gorgeous morning.

I’ve experienced a dark and oppressive view another time in my life, not from an actual physical barrier, but from a broken heart. During that time, I felt like I lived in a giant dark thundercloud. I went to sleep in the cloud, woke up in the cloud, went on errands in the cloud … it was everywhere I went.

It’s difficult to explain the darkness that comes upon someone filled with grief. My vision had become so obscured that I couldn’t imagine anything different. I went through my activities like a slow robot, with little engagement or feeling. It seemed like winter —in my heart. The thought of it ending never occurred to me. That is why I was so surprised by what I noticed one day.

It had been a dark and dreary morning when I went into my physical therapy appointment, but as I left, I saw something different. Just as I looked outside, the sun exploded from behind a black cloud. It was so bright and glorious that I felt a boost in my heart. Awakened with fresh realization, I exclaimed to myself, Wow, the sun is above the clouds after all. At that moment, I knew my observation was true for the sky and true for my heart. There IS light above the clouds! The darkness won’t last forever. That glimmer of hope began a new perspective for me. Light and life were possible. In time, God walked me through the darkness back into the light.

Photo by Jody Nardis

Have you ever experienced grief and loss that colored your world gray? Perhaps you are feeling it now?

Be comforted to know that there is a limit to your pain and suffering.  It may follow you around and feel like it’s never leaving, but it will. Grief is a necessary process when you experience loss, suffering, and heartache. When you have finished feeling all there is to feel, grief will slowly subside.

I’m not grieving anymore. The dark cloud lifted a long time ago. God made scars where the wounds once were. I remember them, but not with the same level of intensity. My faith is stronger now.  I’m confident God is with me, and know he is working for my good. His nearness comforts me. My hope is as high as the heavens because my hope is in God.

I’d like to share with you a quote I wrote after that day I saw the sun emerge.

“Above every cloud is a bright blue sky—will you ever see it again? Yes, my friend, you will fly!”

— I Wish for you Hope, Volume 1, Wendy Thayer

Someday, someone will tell you, “It’s a pretty morning, huh?” And you will go out and see it.