Going through hard times is no fun. It isn’t something that sparks our joy.
Are hard times part of God's will for us?
If you are a believer, it doesn’t mean you won’t ever go through times that aren't difficult. Sometimes the difficult places are God’s will for us at that time. Yes, there are times of suffering that God lets us go through on purpose.
David knew this too well. He knew he was going to be the King of Israel, yet he was on the run from Saul who was trying to kill him. Seriously? He KNEW God's will, yet he was running for his life.
Even if God has called us to do something doesn’t mean it will be easy or painless.
Several years ago, I went through a difficult period of time. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I eventually recognized God’s purpose. It wasn’t easy but I powered through. There were many times that if I knew when it was going to end that I could get through it better, but I was never given an end date. I just had to fulfill my purpose and endure through it. Often when we are in the hard times, we don't see what God is doing until we've been through it and could look back and see what He was doing and why.
Serving God isn’t always happy times of an endless praise and worship music soundtrack in the background of our lives. There are days of feeling that God has forgotten you. Sometimes holding on is all you have.
Some would lead you to believe that your faith in God will be all prosperity. Sometimes your faith in God can be quite painful. It isn't all ease and riches flowing without problems. Some would make you think that you have a lack of faith if you are going through tough times. Ask Job about that.
I have learned many lessons during the hard times in my life about God, myself and my faith in God. Sometimes I got through it well while other times I failed miserably. We all complain so I think God expects it, but I think He's okay about us venting our feelings. Once again, I point you to Job's experience. I use Job because many like to brag about the "patience" of Job but if you read the story, you will see that he wasn't very patient at all. He complained and vented to God about his situation. Even with our venting, we must also keep the faith.
The late Robert Schuller once wrote a book called “Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do” and in his book he writes that “Every Problem has a limited life span.” This means that whatever problems we have will eventually pass. Of course, the issue I always have with that quote is that we don’t always know how long the hard times are going to last. The only thing we can do is buckle down and get through it. Things do eventually change.
Hard times are going to come and go. Don't let the hard times defeat you.
