Romans 8:18 - Look Beyond the Gloom to the Glory!!!

Rom.8:18: Look Beyond the Gloom to the Glory!!!

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]