Romans 8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

If we are God’s children and heirs of heaven, why should we have to suffer? You know, if my dad owned the grocery store, I wouldn’t expect to go hungry anymore. If my dad owned the factory, I wouldn’t think it would be hard to find a job. If my dad ran the universe, wouldn’t you think my life would be a little easier?

But it’s not easy. We suffer. Whether we like to think about that or not, at least Paul is being real. He spoke from personal experience. He himself had been imprisoned, flogged, pelted with stones, and beaten by the enemies of the gospel. Hazards of his travel left him shipwrecked, cold, hungry, and sleepless at times. His concern for the churches made him no stranger to stress and heartache. He knew what it was like to suffer, and he knew that he wasn’t alone.

Our suffering as God’s children may take different forms, but it hasn’t gone away. I could name at least a half dozen men right now who worked for major corporations you would all recognize. Their careers were artificially limited, they ran into a glass ceiling of sorts, they weren’t allowed to rise as high as their skills could have taken them, because they refused to compromise their personal morals. They lived as God’s children and they suffered for it.

I could walk you through the membership list of my congregation. For each active family I could mention at least one serious tragedy they have endured, or one substantial burden they bear beyond the little irritations that afflict us all. They are God’s children, but they suffer, and that’s hard for us to understand.

Individually, why any of us suffer this particular way, or this much compared to everyone else, is information our Father hasn’t shared. But this much he has revealed: Our suffering helps us to realize how helpless our sin has made us. Over and over again it rehearses us in our utter dependence on our heavenly Father for all things. It leads us to repent of the pride that thinks, “I can do this all by myself,” whether that is achieving our own salvation, like the Pharisees who wanted nothing of Jesus’ message of forgiveness and grace; or achieving earthly success, like the laundry list of people past and present who think that their own talent and hard work are going to put food on the table and money in the bank.

In the twelfth chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians Paul says that God uses suffering to make us weak so that we won’t become conceited. But then something wonderful happens. We discover God’s sufficient grace. We find the love that justifies us and forgives our sins sustaining our faith. We experience his steady, quiet power resting on us and supplying our needs.

We are God’s children, who share our Savior’s suffering. But because we are God’s children, even our suffering will bless us in the end.