Not Worth Comparing
READ
When Paul wrote the words that makeup today’s passage, he wasn't sitting in a comfortable study theorizing about suffering. He was writing from experience - the kind of experience most of us hope we'll never have. By the time he wrote Romans around 57 AD, Paul had been beaten with rods, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked multiple times, and thrown into prison more times than he could count. He'd gone hungry, slept in the cold, and felt the sharp pain of betrayal by people he trusted. Yet this man, who knew suffering intimately, chose to focus not on his pain but on what was coming.
Let’s take a moment to read Romans 8:18:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
REFLECT
The word Paul uses for "consider" is fascinating - it's “logizomai,” an accounting term. Think spreadsheets, calculators, weighing pros and cons. Paul isn't just trying to feel better about his situation or pump himself up with positive thinking. He's literally doing the math. He's sitting down with his life's ledger and running the numbers with the same precision you'd use to balance your checkbook.
When he talks about "our present sufferings," he uses a word (pathema) that doesn't sugarcoat anything. These are real experiences of pain, distress, and hardship - the same word used to describe what Jesus went through. Paul isn't minimizing what we face or suggesting we should just smile through genuine pain. But notice that word "present" - these sufferings have an expiration date.
Here's where Paul's math gets interesting. He says these sufferings are "not worth comparing" to what's coming. The Greek phrase literally means "not of equal value" - like trying to compare a penny to a million dollars. They're not even in the same category. Paul isn't saying suffering doesn't hurt (it absolutely does), but that it belongs in a completely different weight class than the glory that's ahead.
And what exactly is this glory? The word “doxa” refers to honor, magnificence, divine radiance - often describing God's visible presence in Scripture. We're not just talking about feeling better or getting relief from pain. We're talking about sharing in God's own glorious nature. And here's the kicker - this glory will be revealed "in us," not just shown to us. We won't just see it; we'll be transformed by it.
Paul places all of this in Romans 8, his famous "no condemnation" chapter about living by the Spirit. He's not just talking about individual struggles but about how our personal pain fits into the bigger story of all creation waiting for restoration. Your struggles aren't happening in isolation - they're part of a cosmic story that's heading toward an incredible conclusion.
This perspective doesn't make suffering easy or eliminate pain, but it does give us a framework for getting through it with hope intact. Paul's "calculation" can become ours. We can train ourselves to see current difficulties in light of God's promises - not to minimize pain but to keep an eternal perspective.
The promise that glory will be revealed "in us" means our sufferings aren't wasted experiences. They're actually developing something in us - character, compassion, faith - that will become part of who we are forever. The depth you gain through hardship, the wisdom forged in difficulty, the empathy born from your own pain - these become part of your eternal identity. Your trials aren't just obstacles to survive but tools God uses to prepare you for a glory you can't yet imagine.
Paul uses the plural "sufferings" for a reason - he's including all of it. Physical illness, emotional pain, relationship conflicts, financial stress, persecution, spiritual battles. His mathematical calculation applies to every form of human difficulty. And by connecting our sufferings to Christ's sufferings, he suggests that our pain somehow participates in His redemptive work. We don't suffer meaninglessly but in union with the One whose suffering accomplished our salvation.
This verse tackles one of faith's toughest questions: Why do good people suffer? Paul doesn't give us a complete answer, but he offers a perspective that can sustain us through the questions. He reminds us that what we see now isn't the final chapter, that our current experience doesn't represent the ultimate truth, and that God's story is far from over.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
How does viewing your current struggles through Paul's "accounting" perspective - as a rational calculation rather than just trying to endure emotionally - change how you respond to them?
What evidence have you seen in your own life or in others' lives that suffering can actually prepare people for greater purpose or usefulness in God's kingdom?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Lord, when I'm overwhelmed by what I'm facing right now, help me see it through Your eternal perspective. Give me the same kind of rational faith that Paul had to do the math correctly - to weigh temporary pain against eternal glory. Use my struggles to prepare me for the glory You've promised, and help me trust Your goodness even when I can't see the bigger picture. Amen.