Are You Groaning?

With all the economic uncertainty right now, have you noticed that people are holding on to the slightest ray of hope that things will turn around?

There was a section on the evening news the other night about people who don’t believe things will turn around anytime soon—“doom sayers” making dire economic predictions: a new Great Depression, bread lines, riots. In his blog last month, David Wilkerson predicted riots and fires in the cities of America, much like the Watts riots of the 1960’s.

Whatever is happening, I know this: “the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now…for the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:22, 19). Paul says all of creation (humans, animals, fish, plants) is waiting to be released from the bondage of Satan and his world system, i.e., “the god of this world.” And with increase of natural disasters: flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, who cannot see that the world is in the throes of child birth! What is being birthed? The fullness of time is about to give birth to God’s kingdom and the ‘sons’ of God are about to be revealed. That’s us! We are about to throw off these mortal bodies and enter into our new eternal, divine state!

But Paul also says: “and not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” As I look around and listen, I do not hear people groaning and eagerly waiting for this to occur. It seems that many Christians, like the earthlings among whom we live, are not groaning to be released into our final hour. Rather we too are simply holding on to our earthly investments, waiting, and watching for the slightest ray of hope that things will get better.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not hoping for world destruction, for the pain and suffering of humanity. Nor am I wishing for apocalyptic destruction to come upon the earth. But I am longing, even groaning, for the return of Jesus and the revealing of the sons of God. That doesn’t make me a doom sayer! It makes me a ‘groaner.’ Are you groaning too?