Glorifying God In Our Pain Through Hope

John 13:31 Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him."

John 17:1, 4 Jesus prays, "Father the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you...I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do."

In this life we all will eventually go through seasons of pain. No one likes pain. We do all that we can to avoid pain or numb ourselves of it.

One question we need to ask is, "How can God be glorified in my pain?" Let's look to Jesus and see how he Glorified the Father in his pain.

Jesus' hour had come. His "hour" of pain. He would experience the pain of our sin... He would absorb the pain of God's wrath for our sin, not to mention the physical pain involved in being crucified. As Jesus looks at the pain of the cross he declares, "NOW (in my pain) God is glorified." In the most dreaded and painful moment of his life...God was most Glorified. Wow!... How? Hope. We see that hope in Hebrews 12:2 as Jesus endures the pain of the cross by looking to the joy that was set before him. We see that hope in II Cor 4:17 as Paul describes his pain as light and momentary when compared with the eternal weight of glory that awaits him.

It is through our hope in God that we, like Jesus, can glorify God in our "hour" of pain. Biblical hope is a joyful certainty of the glory of God.

Hope in God,
Pastor Todd