When we are feeling low, we can take comfort in the words of Paul: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). When we are pleased with how we are faring in the world, we must still proceed with humility, knowing that whatever we win in the body, it is of limited value in the grand scheme of things, and only the Spirit redeems. As Paul stresses in his letter to the Christian community of the Ephesians, that trust and faith in God is essential, regardless of one's positive or negative circumstances. At times, it can seem as if God has abandoned Christians on earth, as He seemed to abandon His son upon the cross. But one must have faith in the ultimate redemption and glory of God at the end of time, and not expect that the rewards will be easily won, understood, and collected, like the actions of a tax collector, or like returns on a financial investment. The Lord gives and takes away in material terms, but the accumulation of temporal rewards is not how we can judge our spiritual progress. The spiritual life's rewards are never physical and tangible, but they are, Paul urges us to remember, very real, even though they are of the spirit.

God gave us "redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both[which are in heaven and which are on earth -- in Him" (Ephesians 1:8-10)....

Likewise, in his letter to the Romans, Paul stresses the fulfillment of Christ, the fulfillment of the prophesy of what was true at the beginning of time, and what will be true at the end of time: "whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). Thus "in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:11-12). Suffering and simply holding true to one's values, regardless of one's circumstances, is difficult, but if Christ can hold true to what he knows is his destiny upon the cross, so human beings can hold fast to their values and belief during periods of earthly crisis in finite time. Christians can and must resist some of the more decadent and cynical values of the age. Our inheritance as Christians in the spirit is ultimately not measured in wages and salary, or the esteem we draw for a short while on the moral earth. Instead we must trust in God that the real and ultimate reward is to come later on -- and that the sense of meaningful hope and light we gain as an immediate reward, living in the spirit of Christ, comes every day, regardless of what we earn, what we gain, and what we suffer.
Works Cited

Ephesians 1." New King James Version. (NKJV). Biblegateway.org. 15 Mar 2008. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%201;&version=50;

Romans 8." New King James Version. (NKJV). Biblegateway.org. 15 Mar 2008. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%208;&version=50