I love CS Lewis as do many people. One of his quotes that has always stuck with me was,

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.“

As I was studying for the message that I am giving this weekend, I thought of this quote once again. I will be teaching on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, but I think this quote fits really well with verse 17, which reads, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” As I read the verse over and over this week it started to stand out to me that our troubles are actually achieving for us the glory that awaits. They are not a hurdle to climb over, they are part of the process – a necessary part of the process. Maybe its because the troubles remind us that this world is not our home. Maybe its because they create in us a longing for something greater, something more, something that we were actually created for.

As I mulled over possible ways to illustrate that for this weekend, the best that I could come up with is a balloon. When we blow up a balloon it obviously expands. I think that is the way that hardship work in our life. They expand us. They create a greater capacity for us to receive, embrace, and embody glory – both in this life and in the next. I’m pretty sure that this is what Romans 5:3-5 is saying as well.

This isn’t one of the messages that everyone loves to hear. I think it falls under that category of “God’s ways are not our ways,” but I am convinced that it is true. I’m convinced both experientially and by the scriptures. Sometimes the things we don’t want to hear are the very things that we most need to hear.