The link between suffering and glory is more than chronological—suffering now, glory then. The link is causal: we can see glory only through suffering. First comes affliction, through which we are brought to the end of ourselves and forced to lean on our Savior. Then comes glory. Suffering does not always accomplish this goal. Of the two men who hung on crosses on either side of Jesus, suffering hardened one and humbled the other. When suffering accomplishes the latter, it is the pathway to heaven.