These Times of Suffering Will End!

God shows us how suffering will end, and He encourages us to live now in preparation for that happy future world.

When I think of suffering, the first verse that comes to my mind is Revelation 21:4: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

This verse talks of the time after Satan is thrown in the lake of fire, the time when suffering will be removed from the universe because Satan will not be around anymore to deceive anyone and disturb the peace and love that are of God.

What a wonderful time to look forward to! A time when there will be no more kids dying of hunger or dying because of horrible diseases.

Imagine a place where everyone will live forever as children of God in happiness and in peace. It will be a world filled with the knowledge of God and where all the things of this world will be gone. The only things left will be the things of God.

Of course, in the meantime, things will continue to go wrong, but it will not always be the case.

Where our treasure is

When things are not going well for us in this world, we need to focus on the reward of living God’s way and keeping His laws. For Jesus Himself tells us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

So we can smile because we understand the sufferings of this present age will end. In the long run it does not matter if we have financial problems, problems at work or problems at school, because this is not our world. These are all material things that are part of the world ruled by Satan. We should strive for a better life by putting our heart in God’s Kingdom and laying up treasures there.

How should we live in this world? Instead of fitting in with this world’s way of doing things, Paul tells us: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1-2).

This means to sacrifice ourselves, to seek God’s help to become more and more like Jesus Christ by being holy. This means setting ourselves apart from the rest of the world and its evil ways of doing things.

Smiling in hope of a wonderful future

Add to all of this the hope that we have. It is a very important reason to smile because we have hope for a better life and future after this world, although most people have no idea why they are even here.

Through Jesus Christ, we can have a “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). Even if we cannot smile now, sometimes we need to be happy on the inside because, thanks to God, we have “living hope” in what He has prepared for us.

As Hebrews 11:13-16 tells us: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

By this we know that the reward is worth going through anything and being “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” We look forward to Jesus Christ’s return to bring God’s Kingdom to this suffering planet.

So keep the smiles going through the hope. And remember that all the trials are not even comparable to the plans that God has prepared for us when He welcomes us into His holy Kingdom!

Adiel S. Granados, 17, attends the Clarksville, Maryland, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.

For more about the suffering of this age and the wonderful world that is coming, see:

• Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering?
• The Mystery of the Kingdom