"The sufferings we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be shown to us." (NCV)
What is God saying?
There will be things that bring us pain in this life, but they will be so outweighed by the splendor of eternal life with God that they will become insignificant.
What is God saying to us today?
As Christians, we read and claim many promises from the Bible - promises about health, safety, riches, family, etc. Yet sometimes, things happen to us that go against these promises. We get a serious illness, we get injured, we go broke, our family never materializes. That does cause some of us to feel like God breaks His promises, that He doesn't really care, or even that He doesn't actually exist. As we read through Scripture though, we find that very few people lived "perfect" lives; almost everyone, even the major heroes of faith, experienced at least a little suffering. So while God does promise us a lot of great things, He never says we will make it through this life unscathed. And while He does give us lots of great gifts in the here and now, His ultimate promise is that the greatest gift is yet to come. That gift will be so magnificent that everything else will pale in comparison.
What is God inviting us to do?
Are you going through something so tough that you are tempted to give up hope and turn away from God? God invites us to hold on to Him through the pain and suffering, because He has something spectacularly amazing waiting for us.