And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:23

We hope you have benefited from our series on Romans chapter 8 the last few weeks, “the great 8,” as some have called it. In chapters 5-8 Paul has been speaking about how the Holy Spirit brings freedom and life to all believers in Christ. Above is one of the verses that Nate dealt with last week at Frontline and the word that pops out at me as I read it is, groan. The kind of groaning Paul refers to here, “takes place by reason of a state of oppression which causes suffering and from which there is the desire to be free” (TDNT, P. 1076). Though we have been set free from the penalty of sin (8:1) as well as sins power (6:2) we are not yet free from the presence of sin or the effects of sins curse in a broken world.

Throughout Church history there have been many men and women who have endured tremendous suffering even in the midst of carrying on tremendous ministry for the sake of Christ and his Church. William Cowper is a name that probably most of us are not familiar with. He was an 18th century poet and hymn writer, who also suffered from debilitating depression and despairs for the majority of his life, and at times was suicidal. In the spring of 1763, Cowper was sitting on a bench on the grounds of the insane asylum; he picked up a bible (as someone had placed on the bench, knowing he would find it) and read Romans 3:25. Here is what happened in Cowper’s own words: “Immediately I received the strength to believe it, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fullness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed, and received the gospel.”

While William Cowper received the hope of the gospel that day, his groaning would remain for the rest of his life on earth. Somehow, by God’s marvelous grace, even in the midst of the darkness of his own battle with depression and despair, he knew that the sovereign God was good and that He was working out his own purposes in and through the unbearable suffering that Cowper lived with. Below are the words to a hymn/poem that Cowper wrote concerning suffering and the sovereignty of God. I encourage you to read slowly and think upon these words, even commit them to memory as my wife and I have. They will enlarge your vision of God and help you suffer well when you feel the groaning within your own spirit.

In the mercy of the gospel,
Will

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain:
God is his own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.