Romans 8:18 reads this way: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
What does that mean?
When you receive Jesus, he brings all that He is into you: perfect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control—not eventually, not occasionally, but at all times, at every moment, in every situation. Now. He is the Treasure you’ve been looking for, the Reward for which you long, and the Answer you’ve got to know. And He is in you. Jesus is the solution you want, the success you were made for, and the glory now in you. It’s all Him.
If you’re suffering or enduring hardship as I sometimes do, avoid the temptation to work up more fleshly strength (you’re already exhausted), and beware the thoughts that assign you to the failed scrap heap of humanity. That’s a lie. His glory, the incredible evidence that He lives within you, is best seen through suffering, most obvious in calamity, and most triumphant in hardship. So offer yourself to Jesus. And where is He? That’s where you make the offering—to the inside, to Jesus who has made you His home.
Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God (and He is in you right now) as those who have been brought from death to life (Where is the life? He is on the inside); and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” (Italics mine.)
Listen for Him. Look for Him. Feel for Him inside of you—with you. This is worth quieting yourself. Pay attention to the thoughts and pictures that play in your mind. Talk aloud to Jesus—you may get reckless or even loud—as you give yourself to Him. You’ll find that He gives Himself to you, and that’s where the life is! Respond to what you feel and to what He reveals, and trust that he loves you far more than He cares about mistakes you might make in the adventure of knowing Him. It’s okay if you’re a sloppy baby with Him now and then; He’s not going to reject you! You’re His baby! If He knows everything, even before it happens, then He knows and has planned for your sloppiness. He doesn’t resent it. Be needy with Him! That’s also where His glory is best seen—in the pressure! In our weakness.
Consider what Paul wrote to the sloppy behaving, perfect vessels for God nevertheless, the pressured sons and daughters at Corinth:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay (We’re sure fragile, aren’t we?) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (If God were to show up in a jar of clay, it would be obvious, wouldn’t it? That’s the plan with you and me.) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 2 Corinthians 4:6-11 (Italics mine)
And what a life that is! God’s life in you and in me, for us to experience and for others to witness. That’s the glory—He is the glory now in you. Finding Him there is the best discovery there is, and it’s the best treasure hunt you’ll ever go on. It’s the hunt for glory, and it’s found in you.