Moans and Groans from Romans 8

Today I am commenting on Romans 8:18-26:

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

One sign of getting older is when you have to grunt and groan to stand up!  In fact, moans and groans can often speak better what we feel than our words do.  They can express our pain, disappointment, disbelief, misery, and dissatisfaction.

In our text for today, Paul wrote about groaning from three different perspectives:  creation groans, believers groan, and the Holy Spirit groans.  Let me explain.

Creation Groans:

God created a perfect world in which all species were in balance. No killing was needed, and every creature was nurtured and walked without fear.

Sadly, mankind's sin upset that finely tuned and exquisitely balanced world. Sin caused death to enter to harvest skins to covered nakedness and it caused death to feed us. Sin also resulted in the death of animals to protect us from wildlife out of balance. It also caused imperfect, sinful humanity to have dominion over what was designed to be ruled by humans created in the image of God.

What Does Creation Groan About?

Suffering (Verse 18).

Vanity (Verse 20).  Man does some very silly things to nature. As an illustration of this, humans introduced the mongoose to Hawaii to kill rats. The problem is that they don’t hunt rats, and so they multiplied and became a pest themselves without reducing the number of rats.

Bondage and decay (Verse 21).

Pain (Verse 22). We certainly see plenty of pain in the Year 2020, but creatures have experienced pain since the fall of Adam and Eve.

Believers Groan:

The ironic and counter-intuitive fact is that revolutions don’t begin when life situations are bad and getting worse. Revolutions actually get ignited when things are bad, but they are starting to get better. People get impatient and they can’t wait. This was first observed at the time of the French Revolution, but it has been documented numerous times over the centuries.

Believers groan because we've tasted the glories of God. We can't wait to feast in heaven. Like the free samples that bakers use to entice us to buy their products, we have been given the first fruits of the Spirit, but we must wait to enjoy the balance of our blessings. 

So, what do we groan about?

Imperfect families, spouses, and friends.

Imperfect schools or jobs. 

An imperfect environment. Maybe we don’t have enough rain, or maybe we have too much rain. Maybe it is too hot, or maybe it is too cold.

Imperfect churches. I've been a member of a number of churches and I have been the pastor of four.  None were perfect, but all were used of God in some way or the other!

So, what can we do?

First, we can be patient as Paul says in Verse 25. 

Next. we can do what we can! Like the Serenity Prayer says: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change those things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I have found that it is easier to act myself into feeling better than it is to feel myself into acting better.

Finally, as Paul tells us in Verse 24, we should have hope in the Lord.

The Holy Spirit Groans:

Why can we have hope in the Lord? Because God knows what life is like. Jesus lived among us; as the saying goes, He has “Walked a mile in our moccasins.” Jesus also groaned like us, in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the Via Dolorosa, and on the Cross!

Why can we have hope in the Lord? Because the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. When we don't know how to pray; He prays for us. When we don't know what we need; He prays for us. When we don't know why things happen: He prays for us.

Why can we have hope in the Lord? Because we have expert help. 

When my wife was in school, she struggled in algebra. Fortunately for her, her brother-in-law had a Bachelor of Science in Math, and he could tutor her. Without his expert help she would have failed. In the same way, we need to bring God into our lives to sort us out with His expert guidance!

Conclusion: 

Are you tired of the year 2020? I am! Are you tired of moaning and groaning? I can relate!

All of us need to seek God and His help! He will if we just ask!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt