The Holy Spirit helps us to endure suffering: (8:18): Continuing the previous thought, Paul reminded the readers that sharing in God’s glory calls for sharing in Christ’s suffering. Paul was not ignorant of the kind of sufferings he went through in his ministry, yet the apostle encourages believers that the present suffering is nothing compared to the glory that we are going to share with Christ. The glory is forever and eternal, whereas the present suffering is temporary and light (2 Cor.4:17). Certainly this wonderful truth can motivate every believer to endure afflictions in this present world.
Freedom from frustration: (8:19-30): Because of the sin, everyone is subjected to frustration.
Creation groans: (8:19-22): God created the entire creation in just 6-days by His Word. It is a wonderful creation (Gen.1:31), even till date man could not fathom the depths of God’s creation. Because of sin, the creation is groaning and there is pain, suffering and death. It is not the fault of creation. It is subjected to futility on account of man’s sin. However, the groaning is not useless, because creation would ultimately receive the redemption. Paul compared this groaning of creation to woman in travail giving birth to a child. Certainly there is pain but the end is full of joy. Similarly the believer should not focus on sufferings or afflictions. The groaning will be exchanged for glorious liberty. The creation is not going through death pangs but birth pangs. The prophet Isaiah describes: “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa.11:6-9).
Believers groan: (8:23-25): God’s children also groan longing for the completion of Salvation. The believers are the firstfruits of the Spirit, we are also groaning because we wait in hope for the consummation of our adoption which will finally happen at the redemption of our physical body. Our physical bodies will change into glorified bodies with the power of resurrection, “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality” (1 Cor.15:53). We continue to groan because we have not yet attained the final step of redemption. The redemption of the body would occur in the future. We are hoping and eagerly anticipating with steadfast endurance i.e. even going through trials and afflictions. What we are going to become, is too wonderful to understand and even experience. We hope for what we do not have and we wait patiently for it.
The Holy Spirit groans: (8:26-27):
As we are hoping for the completion of our redemption, we undergo many trials and sufferings. The Lord is concerned about our trials, because His promise “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt.28:20b). We are not left alone but He is with us in all our trials and sufferings. God was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego even in the fiery furnace. When we are weakened by the sufferings, the Holy Spirit groans and helps us face the situations. He prays for us in His groaning so that we might be led into the will of God. We do not always know the will of God and so we do not know how to pray or what to pray. But the Holy Spirit intercedes with us so that we might seek His face and His will despite the sufferings we are undergoing. In a way the Holy Spirit comforts us, consoles, give the healing balm and shares our burden of sufferings.
In the scripture we find that Even the Lord Jesus groaned or wept:
- He groaned before healing a deaf and dumb person (Mk.7:34).
- When He saw the multitude, He had compassion on them (Mk.6:34) and fed 5000-men with five loaves of bread and 2-fish.
- He wept at the Lazarus tomb (Jn.11:35) before raising from dead.
- Jesus wept when He saw Jerusalem just before His crucifixion (Lk.19:41-45).
A believer has no need to faint in times of troubles, sufferings because our God is with us and He is working out plans for us. He knows the best for us. The Holy Spirit guides us to pray according to His will.
When the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, His words are not expressed, but the Father knows what the Spirit is thinking. This is God’s omniscience and the intimacy within in the Trinity. The Lord Jesus continually intercedes for believers in God’s presence (8:34), “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them” (Heb.7:25). Though believers are ignorant of what to pray for and how to voice those requests, the Holy Spirit voices their requests for them. We can come to Him with every need, assured that He understands and receives us with love.
Ex: A beautiful life-experience is told by “James Blanks” which is given in “Our Daily Bread” booklet.
Not long ago I sent my wife, Cari, a text message using only voice prompts. I was on my way out the door to give her a ride home from work and intended to send the words, “Where would you like me to pick you up, old gal?” Cari doesn’t mind my calling her “old gal”—it’s one of the affectionate nicknames we use around the house. But my cell phone didn’t “understand” the phrase, and sent the words “old cow” instead. Fortunately for me, Cari immediately understood what had happened and found it funny. She later posted my text message on social media and asked, “Should I be offended?” We were both able to laugh about it.
Our Lord understands us. He looks deep into our hearts, our consciousness. When we pray, many times we do not know how to pray or what to ask for. “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt.6:8).
We can come to Him for every need, assured that He understands and receives us with love. When we belong to Him, His Spirit with in us “intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Rom.8:26) and lovingly helps us to express our deepest needs before Him. He does not stand at a distance waiting for us to get our words right. It is enough when we pray with right conscience and with a truthful heart. He understands and receives us with love, we can always come to Him without any fear of getting right words.