ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DAY

For Children of God: All Pain Leads to Life

Romans 8:22
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

 

In this particular section of Romans (verses 20-22), Paul has been discussing the current status of creation, of which he makes three points: First, creation has been subject to frustration. Second, it's in bondage to decay. And third (from our passage today), it has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. So what happened to put creation in this situation? We find the answer in Genesis 3:17-18. "To Adam he said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, "You must not eat of it," 'Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.'" When God gave man a free will, he chose to sin -- and we have been paying the consequence ever since.

When Adam and Eve fell to temptation -- wanting to be like God and rebelled against Him -- the world changed around them. It lost much of its beauty and friendliness. Nature was set against man. Natural disasters, sickness, and human motivated horrors are a result of man's fall and God's judgment against sin. So what does Paul mean when he writes: "...the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time"? Let me ask you some questions: Are the screams of a person on a roller coaster different from the screams of a person running from a burning building? Are the screams of a mother in childbirth different from the screams of parents in the emergency room of a hospital who have just been informed of a tragic accident involving their child? Some screams reflect joy while others reflect pain. Our passage today promises: For the children of God -- all pain will ultimately lead to victory and life.

 

God has a definite and continuing hand in all of this. He is not removed. Isaiah 55:12 promises: "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." Do you look at the present "groaning of creation" as a believer in the blessing of the age to come? Are you living as one who knows that our current frustration and bondage will one day be replaced by future joy and freedom? Is there hope in your screams or only despair?

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