Suffering, Groaning, and Glory: The Surprising Normal Christian Life (Romans 8)

Let me start with a confession: sometimes we give people the wrong impression about what it means to follow Jesus.

There's a version of Christianity that gets preached—sometimes subtly, sometimes boldly—that suggests faith should eliminate suffering. Get baptized and your troubles disappear. Pray with enough faith and sickness vanishes. Follow God and prosperity flows.

I try never to do this, but if someone came to me today and said, "I just accepted Jesus," I might actually say, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

I don't say that to discourage anyone. I say it because too many people come to faith thinking that once they're saved, all their suffering ends. All their pain disappears. All their discomfort vanishes. They think, "I'm a child of God now, so God only wants good things for me — and that means no more hard things."

But then real life happens. And suddenly, they're confused. They're wondering, "Did I do something wrong? Is my faith too weak? Is God actually against me?"
That's exactly where Romans 8 meets us.

Paul has spent chapters walking us through the reality of the Christian life. In Romans 7, he admitted the struggle — the inward war between wanting to do right and actually doing wrong. He cried out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).

And then in Romans 8, he gives us the answer: the Holy Spirit.

But here's what surprised me when I really studied this chapter. Paul doesn't promise that suffering will go away. He promises something better — that suffering has a purpose, that we have partners in it, and that nothing can separate us from God's love.

So let's walk through the end of Romans 8 together. Because if you've been suffering, if you've been struggling, if you've been wondering whether God has abandoned you — this word is for you.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:17–25
 
"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Paul sneaks something into verse 17 that we can't miss. He says, "If indeed we suffer with Him."

That's the first time he mentions suffering in this chapter — and he doesn't stop mentioning it.
Here's the honest truth: if you are in Christ, you are going to suffer. Jesus Himself warned His disciples, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). Suffering isn't a sign that God has left you. In many ways, it's a sign that you belong to Him.

But notice what Paul says next. He says, consider — meaning, make a decision about how you're going to view your suffering.

He says, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Paul doesn't say the suffering will end on Tuesday. He doesn't promise that if you have enough faith, the pain will disappear by next month. He pushes the rescue all the way to eternity.

That's the difference between a child and an adult. A child gets a cut on their knee and screams bloody murder because they think the pain will last forever. But an adult who gets cut says, "This hurts, but it will pass." Why? Because they've learned that pain doesn't last.
For the believer, the ultimate passing of pain happens when we enter glory. Until then, we need an eternal perspective.

Think about it this way: For the unbeliever, this life is the best it's ever going to get. But for the believer, this life is the worst it's ever going to get. That changes everything.

Paul even brings creation into the conversation. He says the whole creation is groaning — like a woman in labor — waiting to be set free from the curse of sin. And here's the beautiful part: we groan along with creation. Every day, creation is moaning. Every day, we're moaning. And that's actually normal.

Any woman who has given birth knows it's painful. Uncomfortable. Exhausting. And yet, some of you did it again. Why? Because the hope of what came after erased the memory of the pain.

That's what eternal hope does. It doesn't remove the pain now — but it puts the pain in perspective.

Romans 8:24–25 says we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. We hope for what we do not see, and we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

I think perseverance is the theme of so many of our lives. You're hanging in there. You're fighting the good fight. You've tried once, twice, three times. And you know what? You're still here.

Hebrews 11 tells us about a whole cloud of witnesses who died without seeing the promises of God. Can I live that life? Before I moved to New York, I wasn't sure I had that kind of faith. But here's what I've learned: you can endure more than you think when you take it one day at a time.

Some of you have said to yourself, "I don't know if I could go through what they went through." And then the Lord brought you through something just as hard. And you realized the only way you made it was one day at a time.

So here's the question: Do you have this new perspective? Are you willing to see suffering not as God's absence, but as part of your journey toward glory?

Romans 8:26–30

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

Here's what I love about this passage: God didn't leave you alone.

He didn't just say, "Here's suffering, good luck, figure it out." No. He gave you partners.

First, we have the Holy Spirit. Circle that word "also" in verse 26. It's not just the Holy Spirit helping you — He's one of many helps. But notice when He helps: in our weaknesses.

As long as you pretend you have it all together, the Holy Spirit can't help you. As long as you refuse to admit you're weak, He has nothing to work with. But the moment you cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who will save me?" — the Holy Spirit is right there.

And here's something beautiful: we don't know what to pray. But the Holy Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that can't even be put into words.
Some mornings, I just groan. "Ahhh!" That's my prayer. And the Holy Spirit takes that groan and interprets it perfectly to the Father.

Not only that, but verse 27 says the Holy Spirit searches our hearts. He knows what we really need — not just what we want. And He makes intercession for us according to the will of God.

Here's where it gets challenging: the Holy Spirit's only agenda is to help you do the will of God. And sometimes, God's will is not the same as your comfort.

I want more of the Holy Spirit. But you realize that means the Holy Spirit is going to send you places you don't want to go, right?

We had a ministry team here last week, and they were talking about how amazing you all are in your prayers and your giving. And we signed up to send me to Sudan for two weeks to be with chaplains. Don't clap — that's not comfortable. That's the will of God. And the Holy Spirit is the one pushing us into it.

So when you say, "I want more of the Holy Spirit," are you ready to do the will of God? Even when it's hard?

Then we have God the Father as our partner as well.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Notice it doesn't say all things are good. It says all things work together for good. There's a difference.

And what is that "good"? Verse 29 tells us: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son."

The goal of your life is not your comfort. The goal is not your bank account or your career or your relationship status. The goal is that you become like Jesus.

So when you're praying, "God, take away this suffering," and God says, "But that suffering is making you more patient, more humble, more like My Son" — what then?

The Holy Spirit is working God's will in you. The Father is working Christ's character in you. The question is: Are you cooperating? Or are you throwing a temper tantrum, saying, "God, You don't understand what I need"?

Romans 8:31–39

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Paul ends this chapter with a crescendo. He moves from new perspective to new partners to new authority.

When you're suffering, what's the first thought that comes to your mind? Be honest. It's usually, "God must be against me."

But Paul flips that completely. He doesn't even entertain the question. He starts with the assumption: If God is for us, who can be against us?

Notice he doesn't say nothing is against us. Plenty is against us. But it doesn't matter, because God is for us.

Then he asks: "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies."
Now, the enemy brings accusations against you all the time. And here's the hard truth: the accusations are often true. You did sin. You did mess up. You did think that thing. You did say that thing.

But Jesus died for those sins. So the charges don't stand up in God's court — not because you're innocent, but because Jesus already paid the penalty.

You need to get to the place where you can just agree with the enemy: "Yes, I am a dirty, rotten sinner. And there's no reason God should love me. But guess what? He does love me. And Jesus died for sinners like me."

Then Paul asks: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"

He quotes Psalm 44, where the psalmist says, "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

And then he makes this stunning declaration in verse 37: "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

More than conquerors. That doesn't mean the absence of suffering. It means victory in the middle of suffering.

Then Paul lists everything he can think of: death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth, any other created thing.

And he concludes: none of these things shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, let me pause here because we get emails every week from people worried about curses, voodoo, spirits, generational curses, and all kinds of opposition.

Go back to verse 38. Paul says neither angels nor principalities nor powers — none of these things. That includes every curse, every spell, every spiritual attack you can imagine.

Do you remember the story of Balaam in Numbers 22–24? The king of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel. But God told Balaam, "You shall not curse these people, for they are blessed." No curse could touch them.

The only time Israel lost that protection was when they sinned. When they rebelled against God, God's hand of blessing withdrew — not because of a curse, but because of their own disobedience.

So before you blame a curse, ask yourself: Is there any known sin in my life? Because the chastening hand of God can feel like a curse. But it's actually love — calling you back to repentance.

Same thing with persecution. Are you really being persecuted for righteousness' sake? Or did God just call you out for doing something wrong? That's not persecution. That's discipline.

So Paul ends where Romans 8 began: No condemnation. And now he adds: No separation.
If you are in Christ, nothing can touch your position. Nothing can separate you from His love. Not suffering. Not sin. Not spiritual attack. Nothing.

So what does this mean for your Tuesday morning?

1. Stop expecting a pain-free life. That's not the promise. The promise is presence and purpose in the pain.
2. When you don't know what to pray, just groan. The Holy Spirit is your translator. He knows what you need.
3. Ask yourself: what is God trying to produce in me? The suffering might not be punishment — it might be formation.
4. Stop blaming curses and check your sin. The enemy doesn't have authority over you. But your own rebellion can bring God's discipline.
5. Preach Romans 8:38–39 to yourself every morning. Before the accusations come, remind yourself: nothing can separate me from His love.
6. Take it one day at a time. You don't need grace for next year. You need grace for today. And it's there.

Maybe you've been living under a cloud of condemnation.
 You've been wondering if God has turned His back on you.
You've been blaming the enemy, blaming curses, blaming everyone else —
when all along, God has just been trying to get your attention.

Here's the good news: the door is still open.
The Spirit is still interceding.
The Father is still working all things for good.
And the Son is still making intercession for you at the right hand of God.

You are more than a conqueror.
Not because you're strong — but because He is.

Let's pray together:
Father, we come before You. We thank You that You didn't leave us alone to figure out suffering on our own. Holy Spirit, we confess that we have grieved You. We have resisted Your leading. We have ignored Your promptings. Forgive us.

Lord, help us to have a new perspective — to see our suffering not as Your absence, but as part of our journey toward glory. Help us to cooperate with You as You work Your will in us and form Christ's character in us.

And Father, help us to be fully persuaded — fully convinced — that nothing can separate us from Your love. Not death. Not life. Not angels. Not demons. Not curses. Not our own failures. Nothing.

We thank You that if God is for us, who can be against us?
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

No. It means God can work all things — even evil, even pain, even sin — toward a good purpose. The "good" is your transformation into Christ's likeness (verse 29).

Suffering is not evidence of God's absence. It's often the tool He uses to humble us, mature us, and make us long for eternity. God's goal is your holiness, not your temporary comfort.


No. Romans 8:38–39 is clear that no power — including curses — can separate you from God's love. However, unrepentant sin can bring God's discipline, which may feel like a curse. The answer is repentance, not fear.


Persecution comes when you do what is right and suffer for it. Consequences come when you sin and suffer for it. Be honest with yourself. If you sinned, repent. If you did right, stand firm.


It doesn't mean you won't face opposition. It means you win in the middle of the opposition. You don't have to wait for the battle to end to experience victory. Christ's victory is yours now.

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