Riding the River of God

2 Cor. 4:17 (adapted)NIV:  For our light and momentary troubles (thlipsis) are achieving (katergazomai) for us an eternal glory (doxa) that far outweighs (baros) them all. The suffering (thlipsis) we experience is quick to come and to go.  One’s suffering may be like this:  in your canoe you are meandering down a river and the terrain squeezes you into the narrowing between cliffs. River rapids (thlipsis) come upon you.  You paddle hard and fast to get through them, and then the river slows and meanders. You are back to being comfortable and your canoe continues down God’s river.When we accept the nature of our circumstances, which is the affliction (thlipsis) or river rapids, God uses these discomforts in our lives. He works them into us like a baker kneading yeast into bread dough (katergazomai).  His handling us creates “the weight of glory.”  Our Maker kneads yeast (faith and longsuffering) into the flour (of our soul) without us even being aware of it.   This weight or load (baros) creates in us eyes of the heart to see the Glory of God.Another definition of baros is authority.  So while God is making us authorities on thlipsis (suffering), we are able to speak to others with conviction about the blessedness of being eye to eye with the Father in Heaven (doxa).  Part of our gaining baros (authority), is our growing in mastery of God’s perfection, his Glory.  It is all a process of being fashioned by God.As God fashions us so we are achieving “the weight of God’s glory”,   we learn the Father favors us and holds us in high esteem.  We are now experts on the subject of suffering. With gratitude we can testify to our LORD’s excellence and his love for us.This process of us being worked over by God (katergazomai) can only be done when we enter the River of God.  There and then we must allow the thlipsis (river rapids) to take us to where God wants us to go.  This is the process of dying to self, of accepting the suffering laid before us by our Heavenly Father.  With a grateful heart, we then achieve our Savior’s eternal glory that far outweighs them all. In Christ,