Paul opens up this section of Romans 8 by acknowledging that the result of sin has brought suffering. Yet compared with the glory to come for the Christian, our suffering and trials are not worth comparing. As God’s children, we must expect suffering, even as evidence that we are truly God’s children and disciples. So as we wait for Jesus’ return we groan. We groan because of what we presently experience and we groan in anticipation and desire for Jesus’ return. Like a mother, in the pains of childbirth, we long for the new birth. What will we be like? How glorious will it be? Like us, the creation also groans as it suffers the effects of sin and as it longs for the glory to come.