The gospel enables us to turn every situation to our advantage. ‘All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose’ (Romans 8:28).
When do we receive this reward? Well, chiefly at the last day when we receive our eternal inheritance in Christ. Then we will be ushered into his kingdom and we will know that nothing can ever remove us from his presence and favour again. This reward comes in the form of an eternal inheritance, but we have not earned that. Christ has earned it for us; he has deserved it for you. He has offered up his righteousness for you, and gone to Calvary for you, so it is your right because you are his. The reward we will receive is a reward of grace, one which we do not deserve. It is not remotely proportional to our deeds for it is far greater than we could ever deserve, but for our encouragement God allows us to see the two as connected, else it could not be called a reward in any sense. But even now we receive that reward in part. Christ sees everything. He will use this difficult time. He will use us as his instruments in the salvation of others. Maybe your patience under unreasonable treatment will greatly increase your witness in the family or at work. God will not let us down. Heartiness helps. It is its own reward. If we can only do things enthusiastically, even the menial task, it cheers us up no end. Try to draw as much satisfaction as you can out of the simplest task by doing it conscientiously.