08/12/2026
Weekly Newsletter Highlight 📌
A Message from Pastor Terry Kesling:
Waiting Patiently
On the heels of a chapter about human struggles with sin, chapter 8 of Romans begins with these powerful and life affirming words. In the NIV, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." Paul goes on to describe the victory we have over sin through the power of the Spirit. This first section of the chapter ends with the following message found in verses 16 and 17:
"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
In the verses following this declaration of our relationship with God as that of children who are heirs of God the Father and co-heirs with Jesus, Paul's tone changed. The focus turns from our being heirs of the Father to being suffering servants. He was addressing the spiritual reality that the Roman believers faced, and they we still face today.
We have the promise of Heaven, and all that God has for us, but are "stuck" here in an earthly reality that includes suffering, pain, and longing for something better.
Paul compared our experience to that of a mother going through the pains of childbirth (verses 22-23). Even though we "have the first fruits of the Spirit", we experience the pain of this world while we wait for what is promised.
Paul then addresses this issue by pointing out that we have hope.
"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (verses 24-25)
Waiting patiently for something we hope for can be very difficult. If Jesus left us with only the hope of an eternity spent with Him and simply said to hold on the best we could until he returned, we would have been in deep trouble.
That's the reason the Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven, to be the giver of hope, among many other things. We find the following help from the Spirit in verses 26-28.
1. "The Spirit helps us in our weakness."
2. "The Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."
3. "The Spirit intercedes for [us] in accordance with the will of God."
4. "In all things God works for the good of those who love him [and] who have been called according to his purpose."
We have the Holy Spirit to help us as we wait patiently for the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
