Life can be hard. I know. That’s why I started this blog. My family and I are going through A LOT of hard things right now. It can be tempting to turn away from God, thinking He allows bad things happen to us. Or that He even causes them.
But He doesn’t.
Why do bad things happen?
Bad things happen because we live in a sinful world. They also happen to help us grow, learn, or get us off a path we shouldn’t be on. The Bible tells us we should consider it joy to face trials, because they help us grow.
Joy? Really?
Yep.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 NIV
Is it possible to have joy when I’m going through hard times?
Yes, but first, let’s make sure we understand what joy is. Joy often gets mistaken for happiness. Joy and happiness are not the same thing. Happiness is a feeling. It’s dependent on outward forces, what’s happening around us. A sunny day can make us happy. Getting ice cream, seeing a friend, going on a trip, buying new clothes, or getting a puppy can make us happy. For a little while. But happiness fades. The ice cream is gone, the friend leaves, the trip is over, the clothes aren’t new anymore, the puppy makes messes that need to be cleaned up. But joy is a choice. An attitude. Joy looks past the hard times I’m going through now to see the good that God promises later. Joy appreciates the things I’m learning and the ways I’m growing in this season. Joy understands that God hasn’t abandoned me, He’s carrying me through this time. So yes, we can have joy when going through hard times but we have to make that choice.
How can struggles help me?
Life’s struggles can help us grow in faith, knowledge, and strength. Think of it like going to the gym. You know you’ve had a good workout when your muscles are sore, right? Well, sometimes there is pain when our faith grows. The struggles I’m going through have grown my faith because I’ve had to let God carry me, I’m not strong enough to do this without Him. I’ve spent more time reading my Bible in this season because I’m desperate for Him. I pray scripture because I’m so overwhelmed I don’t know what to say when I pray. My knowledge is growing because I’m reading and studying my Bible more than I did when life was easier. My faith is getting stronger because I’m depending on Jesus’ strength and seeing Him work. The apostle Paul, when speaking about an ailment that had troubled him, said this about his own weakness and God’s strength:
But he (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV
When we are weak, or struggling, God’s strength is made evident in us.
Struggling in life is sometimes God’s mercy. There may be times we are on a path that isn’t His path for us. It might be a really bad path and He needs to correct it. As parents, when we see our kids doing something that we know will hurt them, we stop them, right? We might even discipline them to make sure they learn not to do that again. Sometimes God has to do that with us. In His loving mercy, He stops what we are doing to hurt ourselves. He might even have to discipline us to make sure we learn, and that can be painful. But it’s done in love. He wants better for us.
What do I do with the hard times in my life?
I tell my kids all the time that mistakes are made for learning from, not for repeating. If we don’t learn from our mistakes, we’ve wasted them and will most likely repeat them. I refuse to waste this season I’m going through (more on that in another post). I want to learn everything I can, everything God is teaching me, and share what I learn with everyone. Elisabeth Elliott said
“It’s through the deepest suffering that God has taught me the deepest lessons. (Elliott, )
I’m finding that to be very true. I hope that you can learn from my lessons and my mistakes and not make them yourself.
I would love to hear your questions and comments so please leave them below. Please share this post with your friends! Until next time…I’m praying for you, please pray for me!
Elliott, Elisabeth. (2019) Suffering is Never for Nothing. B&H Publishing Group.