Hello, this is John Jenkins for Teaching Missions International. Welcome to our broadcast of Dave’s devotion for today.

In today’s devotion, “Wait with eager hope,” Dave encourages us to remember God’s promise that the broken parts of our world—and our lives—will one day be made new. And now, Dave’s devotion.

You and I are surrounded by suffering. This whole fallen world is suffering. You and I can identify with this because we hurt too. None of us can get through life without experiencing the pain of being earth-bound. Life can be very hard. Today, let’s stop for a moment to consider the pain of this world as we listen to a memorable passage from Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians:

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.  For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. (Romans 8:18-23)

My wife Pam will tell you that I’m a fixer. That’s one of the particular ways I express my love for her and for others. Whatever the problem, I am moved to repair it. The problem is…we live in a broken world! There are too many broken things, too many broken people. Even our world is groaning in its broken-ness. Let’s listen again to Paul’s words: “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.” Wow—it’s not just the world and unbelievers who are groaning—we who have the Spirit are groaning, too! I once heard a story of a couple who met with their pastor to talk about God and the problem of evil. As he talked with them, he glanced down. By their side stood their five-year-old Downs Syndrome child. For them, the problem of evil was not an academic problem. They were suffering over how to reconcile their concept of a good God with their pain. The pastor could not “fix” their situation with an astute theological answer. Paul reminds us that none of us can escape the pain of this world, but he also reminds us that the Spirit within us is a “foretaste of future glory.” He also says we “wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” In other words, though you and I groan with the rest of creation, we also live in hope. Just as those parents do for their Downs Syndrome child. Today, you may be groaning. You might be experiencing health problems or financial problems or relationship problems. All of these groanings remind us that this world is broken and we ourselves are its broken inhabitants. Even so, take time to consider this: There is a better day coming, one without sin and suffering. That's your future and my future too…and that is very Good News!