One of the blessings of following Christ is knowing that the best is still to come. Life often gives us the hardest things first. We walk through seasons of loss, disappointment, and struggle. But God has a way of turning even those things into good. What feels like breaking ground can later bring a harvest of joy. The setbacks that knock us down can become the very moments that help us rise stronger. Times of emptiness can open us to be filled by God in ways we never expected.
If He can bring growth and peace through trials now, just imagine what awaits us in eternity. If God can take what hurts and make it good in this life, how much more will his overflowing goodness fill us in the life to come. That’s why we endure. The cross comes before the crown. The struggle comes before the celebration. Waiting isn’t easy, but patience has its reward. Our story isn’t finished yet, and the best chapters are still ahead.
How happy are tried Christians, afterwards. No calm more deep than that which succeeds a storm. Who has not rejoiced in clear shinings after rain? Victorious banquets are for well-exercised soldiers. After killing the lion we eat the honey; after climbing the Hill Difficulty, we sit down in the arbour to rest; after traversing the Valley of Humiliation, after fighting with Apollyon, the shining one appears, with the healing branch from the tree of life. Our sorrows, like the passing keels of the vessels upon the sea, leave a silver line of holy light behind them “afterwards.” It is peace, sweet, deep peace, which follows the horrible turmoil which once reigned in our tormented, guilty souls. See, then, the happy estate of a Christian! He has his best things last, and he therefore in this world receives his worst things first. But even his worst things are “afterward” good things, harsh ploughings yielding joyful harvests. Even now he grows rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he lives by dying, and becomes full by being emptied; if, then, his grievous afflictions yield him so much peaceable fruit in this life, what shall be the full vintage of joy “afterwards” in heaven? If his dark nights are as bright as the world’s days, what shall his days be? If even his starlight is more splendid than the sun, what must his sunlight be? If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven! If he can praise the Lord in the fires, how will he extol him before the eternal throne! If evil be good to him now, what will the overflowing goodness of God be to him then? Oh, blessed “afterward!” Who would not be a Christian? Who would not bear the present cross for the crown which cometh afterwards? But herein is work for patience, for the rest is not for to-day, nor the triumph for the present, but “afterward.” Wait, O soul, and let patience have her perfect work.
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Evening Devotion for May 18