Reckon. I reckon. This is a commonly used phrase. It is for me anyway. But what does it mean? What does the Lord want us to learn about Paul’s use of “I reckon?” It is an actual word and is important in our practical living. There are two opposites, engrossed in bad and good and suffering and glory.
Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Paul’s life was much like ours. It had bad things in it. This can come in many forms; there are many ways to suffer. None of us are exempt. It’s the curse of Adam. Paul had his share. Here Paul opens up revealing his own struggle. In chapter 7 he said the good that he would do, he didn’t and the bad that he wouldn’t do, he did. Both good and bad were present as they are for us. If Paul paused too long on the bad, the devil would have tried to get him to give up. The struggle was continual.
Paul pushed back the bad and held it. He looked at it in its reality. With his other hand, Paul pulled the good up to himself. He examined it. He looked at both the bad and the good along with God’s promises, and he reckoned it all to himself. This is what we must do. When we do this, we’ll see the glory that waits. We’ll see the joy to come. Then we can better handle what brings us down. We’ll find we have more to be thankful for than to complain about.
Reckon is an accounting term. There are two columns that we compare, evaluate and then reconcile to each other. When is the last time you took a good reckoning of your life, good and bad? If you don’t use both “columns” you’ll end up thinking only one exists. This is exactly what the devil would have us do. He’ll tell us God is not as good as he says. He doesn’t keep his promises. Paul said in every life there would be times such as these. He had to deal with them himself. Peter couldn’t do it for him. All others can do is pray for you; we must deal with our own sufferings. Can you not find God? Can’t see him? Can’t feel him? HE IS THERE and because he is, we can reckon all things together and come up with the same answer Paul did.
Let’s be honest. We all have physical sufferings, but we never request prayer for the mental and emotional sufferings. They exist. They play on our mind, and sometimes we want others to think they’re not there. They are the big ones we dare not share. We don’t mention the struggling within and without. We end up placing more importance on the physical. The others are there. Life won’t leave us alone. Aren’t you thankful that Jesus doesn’t leave us alone either? He knows how it feels. He was mistreated. He endured great physical suffering. Look back at his prayer in the garden. He said “not my will but thine be done.” He was under heavy emotional suffering when he asked God why he had forsaken him. He knows exactly what it feels like. He didn’t sin so he could go with us in our own suffering. Let’s don’t inflate ours. We can conquer them when we focus on the Lord, for His bounty is much bigger. Don’t think that if you throw in the towel that the suffering will be less—it won’t be. On the contrary, it will be much, much worse.
Paul reckoned it all. The bad is real. The good is real. However, we have so much to praise him for. In the midst of all the bad and good is the glory to be revealed. Everything is waiting for the child of God, and it is called glory. We don’t have to cower to the devil. We have victory and glory. Heaven is glory. A new body that won’t suffer is glory. It’s the eternal glory that God promised us.
Paul said to reckon because the sufferings are of this present time. Reckon the glory to come. Draw what is yours closer. The sufferings will still be there, but when reckoned all together we find much more than we realized. It’s all about measuring—reckoning. It’s easier to feel the here and now than the hereafter, but it’s ours because it has been promised to us.
Which is better? Give in? Which is right? What is right with God is right with you. Let’s reckon. Evaluate. Fix the budget list. Show the bad, the good, and the glories to be revealed. Subtotal it. Then when you get the grand total, you’ll see everything always adds up with Jesus.
And with Paul we can truly say, “I reckon!”
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 