PRESENT SUFFERINGS
"Paul can speak from authority about "present sufferings." In the depth of human suffering we discover the reality of God. In the depth of human suffering we encounter the fatherly presence. It is in the depth of human suffering that we learn (vs. 15-16) to cry "Abba, Father." I'm not sure that this is some great expression of somebody's who's gone up into the third heaven, thereby experiencing this intimacy but really this is the cry when we can cry nothing else because we're aware of all that we're going through. How do we articulate this notion of suffering in our world? How do we identify with those who are suffering when we ourselves always want to put the best face on things and pretend that we are not suffering? To do so is to violate what we find in the New Testament. Paul doesn't launch into this glorious exposition of what it means to be in Christ and to be filled with the Holy Spirit so as to say, "And so you all know t