“(If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t have, we must wait patiently and confidently)” Romans 8:24 + 25(NLT)

When I read this the other night everything seemed so clear to me. Even though we get so caught up, confused and many times so frustrated with God and Christianity is because we look around the blessing God’s gift of Eternal life. Yes, there is so much sin in our world and its so easy to sin. Everyday we are faced with so many choices. We know often times that what we are doing or saying is not so pleasing to God yet we do nothing about it. We get so caught up in why a God would let His people suffer and be involved with so much sin. Yet this verse made me realize that yes all of this is true and its a daily struggle but it’s a gift from God.

Just think about when you were a little kid. Boys you saw that awesome action figure or that way cool video game that you just ‘had to have’. Or girls you may have seen that Barbie doll or Easy Bake Oven. So you told your parents about it but they said “hey maybe for your birthday” or “you can get that when you earn enough money”. And as a little kid that really sucked. It was so hard to wait for that special occasion or to earn all of that money. But finally when that day came… it was awesome because you finally had that action figure or doll in your hand.

Now think about it… What would have happened if when you saw that present in the store, your parents just went out and bought it. Well you might have been excited to take it home and open it up. You might play with it for a little while and put it on your shelf. It just wasn’t that exciting. It didn’t mean that much to you. You didn’t have to wait and hope that someday you would get one. There was instant satisfaction and you may have been amped at first but in the long run it was just a normal toy.

In 8:23 it says “we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit with us as a foretaste of the future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.” God has this amazing gift of eternal life with Him, free from suffering and pain. It’s something that He holds for us in anticipation. It’s like He’s saying ‘sorry, you have to wait for my perfect timing’. This is so that we will be waiting in anticipation with all our hearts for this gift. It’s a gift that’s so rewarding that He cant just give it to everyone. It instills hope and value in us that He did not just hand it out but we had to wait for it.

So remember next time when you are troubled about life’s troubles or your personal struggles with sin, remember that there is a ultimate gift from God to come. This gift is eternity with him free from pain and sin. It’s something that we as Christians will have to wait for, strengthening our hope and faith. But it’s also something that will entirely blow us away when that final day comes and He reaches out His hand and says “please join me forever in eternity” because it is just far beyond anything we could possibly hope or dream for.