Romans 8:18 - Manna Fromans Heaven

Rom 8:18 (KJV)  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The entire creation has been affected by man's sin and is subject to decay.
One day, when our redemption is complete, and our bodies, like our spirits,
have been renewed, creation itself will be fully redeemed.
Till then, mortality means suffering. For us, and for nature. We know that
our sufferings are insignificant when compared to the glory that awaits us.
But till then, we can only look ahead, confident and eager, waiting for
Jesus to return. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary]

In the light of eternity the present is but a brief and transitory period.
"Our light affliction ... is but for a moment." [SDA Commentary]

Compared with the coming glory, all the sufferings of this present life sink
into insignificance. [SDA Commentary]

This future glory is so great that present sufferings are insignificant by
comparison. Also the glory is forever, whereas the suffering is temporary
and light. [Bible Knowledge Commentary]

The anticipation of this future glory should sustain Christians in their
afflictions here below. The sufferings may seem great, but they are "light"
compared with that "eternal weight of glory" which the afflictions are
working out (2 Cor. 4:17). They are for only a moment, but the glory will be
eternal. They will soon pass away, but the glory will never dim or diminish
forever and ever. [SDA Commentary]

He was not able to find words of sufficient force to express the excellency
of that glory, honor, and immortality which believers would receive when
Christ should come. Compared with the scene upon which his mind's eye was
dwelling, all temporal afflictions were but momentary, light afflictions,
unworthy of thought. Viewed in the light of the cross, the things of this
life were vanity and emptiness. The glory that attracted him was
substantial, weighty, durable, beyond the power of language to describe.
6BC1099-1100

In one scale he puts the sufferings of this present time. The sufferings of
the saints are but sufferings of this present time, strike no deeper than
the things of time, last no longer than the present time <2 Cor. 4:17>,
light affliction, and but for a moment. So that on the sufferings he writes
tekel, weighed in the balance and found light. In the other scale he puts
the glory, and finds that a weight, an exceeding and eternal weight: Glory
that shall be revealed. In our present state we come short, not only in the
enjoyment, but in the knowledge of that glory <1 Cor. 2:9; 1 Jn. 3:2>: it
shall be revealed. It surpasses all that we have yet seen and known: present
vouchsafements are sweet and precious, very precious, very sweet; but there
is something to come, something behind the curtain, that will outshine all.
Shall be revealed in us; not only revealed to us, to be seen, but revealed
in us, to be enjoyed. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)

Sin has been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in
the creation of God. It has brought on the woes of earth; ... As to man, not
a tear has been shed, not a groan has been uttered, not a pang has been
felt, in body or mind, that has not come from sin. This is not all; sin is
to be looked at as it affects the glory of God. Of this how fearfully
regardless are the bulk of mankind! Believers have been brought into a state
of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From
this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding
satisfaction in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is
rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.
[Matthew Henry Commentary]

In all ages Satan has persecuted the people of God. He has tortured them and
put them to death, but in dying they became conquerors. They bore witness to
the power of One mightier than Satan. Wicked men may torture and kill the
body, but they cannot touch the life that is hid with Christ in God. They
can incarcerate men and women in prison walls, but they cannot bind the
spirit.
Through trial and persecution the glory--the character-- of God is revealed
in His chosen ones. The believers in Christ, hated and persecuted by the
world, are educated and disciplined in the school of Christ. On earth they
walk in narrow paths; they are purified in the furnace of affliction. They
follow Christ through sore conflicts; they endure self- denial and
experience bitter disappointments; but thus they learn the guilt and woe of
sin, and they look upon it with abhorrence. Being partakers of Christ's
sufferings, they can look beyond the gloom to the glory, saying, "I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18.  AA576,7

The years of self-denial, of privation, of trial, affliction, and
persecution that Paul endured, he called a moment. The things of the present
time were not considered worth mentioning when compared with the eternal
weight of glory that awaited them when the warfare should be over. These
very afflictions were God's workmen, ordained for the perfection of
Christian character. Whatever may be the circumstances of the Christian,
however dark and mysterious may be the ways of Providence, however great his
deprivation and suffering, he may look away from them all to the unseen and
the eternal. He has the blessed assurance that all things are working for
his good. . . . 6BC1099-1100

While the Lord has not promised His people exemption from trials, He has
promised that which is far better. He has said, "As thy days, so shall thy
strength be." "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made
perfect in weakness." Deuteronomy 33:25; 2 Corinthians 12:9. If you are
called to go through the fiery furnace for His sake, Jesus will be by your
side even as He was with the faithful three in Babylon. Those who love their
Redeemer will rejoice at every opportunity of sharing with Him humiliation
and reproach. The love they bear their Lord makes suffering for His sake
sweet. MB30

While we endure this suffering in hope we have the privilege of praying in
the Spirit. Perhaps too much of our praying is of the flesh - long,
beautiful, "pious" prayers that glorify man and nauseate God (Isa. 1:11-18).
Paul indicates that the most spiritual prayer could be a wordless groan that
comes from the heart! [Wiersbe Expository Outlines]

"Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph, a
tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters, musicians and strange
animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with
treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot,
the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children,
robed in white, stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A
slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown and whispering in
his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting." (At the end of the movie
Patton, these words went through the mind of that famous general.) In Romans
8 Paul describes Christians as glorious conquerors who by God's grace
overcome all forces array against us.  But the glory we receive is eternal.
[Quiet Time SB]