In these verses we encounter a word that is radically counter-cultural. Suffering is not something to avoid or deny or something from which we should seek to numb ourselves. Rather, in light of our hope in Christ, we are to glory in them, knowing that through them God is at work in us and that in the end, we will know the sheer glory that will be ours through Christ. That future hope transforms our response in the midst of suffering in the present.