In your present suffering, God has given you an advantage. Discovering the nature of that advantage will change everything, especially the pain you now feel.

A few days ago, I wrote an article titled, “Interpreting the Sounds of Groaning” from Roman Chapter 8. I referenced the three types of groaning Paul mentioned that are happening in our world and within the Church. The depth of content present in Romans 8 led me to expand that teaching. Here is the second installment that will lead to some of the most impactful Scriptures in all of the New Testament. 

As Paul developed his thoughts in Romans 8, he wrote that anything we groan about now is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed later. Paul’s description of a creation-wide groaning leads the reader to a verse of almost equal notoriety with John 3:16. It is Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”

Looking deeper into the original language of verse 28 opens the depth of that verse. When Paul wrote that God causes everything “to work together” the implication of all things working together means “to cooperate.” God causes what appears to be at odds with our thinking and our experience to cooperate (submit) to the will of God for our lives. That’s something only God can accomplish.

“Good” can be too broad of an interpretation without a clearer understanding of what the word means. The word “good” is defined as an “advantage.” God causes everything to cooperate to our advantage to align with His purpose for our life, even while we continue groaning in anticipation of something better without fully realizing what is happening. 

Paul’s thoughts on suffering and our resulting groaning come together in verse 37 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ Jesus who loved us.” One of my Greek language references restructures verse 37 to read, “We are winning a most glorious victory.” When I read that interpretation, something clicked. 

While we groan for what we do not yet have or feel the sorrow of loss, in that painful state, we must choose to believe we are winning a most glorious victory or hopelessness will begin to fill our thoughts. In those moments when nothing makes sense, if we choose to believe, the most beautiful and faith-filled words of hope will come from our groaning, “Because of what Jesus did for me, in this painful moment of groaning, I am winning a most glorious victory.” By the hand of God, everything is working together in cooperation for our good. Our part is to simply believe that it is true.