Romans Chapter 8 cont'd
Hope, our expectation of a heavenly future, is an essential part of God's plan for our salvation. If we had a total fulfillment of our salvation here and now, then this hope would not be necessary. But as it is, we are called to wait patiently, with hope in our hearts, for the fullness yet to come. In the meantime, the Spirit helps us in our human frailty- we don't even know how to pray or what to pray for. But the Holy Spirit, living within us, prays through us with deeps sighs and longings that go beyond our ability to understand or articulate. And God, who is ever searching human hearts, picks up on the Spirit's signals because he is praying within us in perfect harmony with the Father's will.
Comments:
There are actually three "groans" mentioned in this part of Romans 8. The first two were referred to in the last installment...creation is groaning...we ourselves are groaning and here...the Holy Spirit is also groaning. So, at least, we are in good company. With all of the reality, assurance and in-breakings of God's presence and kingdom we can know in this world, it is still far from the perfection and beauty we will one day enjoy when the new creation swallows up the old one entirely. (Yes...all the troubles, pains, failures, tragedies, setbacks, injustices, sins, disappointments, burdens, sicknesses, heartbreaks and the like...are "digestible" by Resurrection Life.)
Our heavenly Father uses the pressures and imperfections of this life as constant reminders that this world, as we know it, is not what we have been essentially designed for. "We were made for so much more"...as Switchfoot reminded us in one of their popular songs. Try as we might to think and believe and work as though it were, we always come away with our inner groan intact. There are teachings, movements, cultural trends and fads and gurus of various sorts all about us that try to entice us to imagine that if we follow them and/or their advice, then this deep and pervasive groan will be lifted from us. But it is there by our Father's design and purpose and only the return of Jesus will see it's displacement. A healthy longing and expectation for his return is essential to a vibrant and biblical spirituality here and now. This kind of strong hope does not make us "so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good", but rather, keeps us "so heavenly minded" that we are empowered to be of earthly good...day by day by day. In the midst of this emotional and spiritual tension, there is a mysterious power that may seep into our souls that may also motivate us to "seize the day". Today the only day we have to live within.
Let us not be afraid to face and embrace the groaning within us...it will lead us to a healthier frame of heart and mind. We may even discover that we're praying more often and better than we thought.
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