Hard Times

Do you ever feel like hard times is pretty much all you have in your life...with maybe a short stint of "easy" in between? Do you ever feel like you’ve been given more than your fair share of challenges in life? I know that I sure do. In fact, it seems like every time I walk through a new storm I feel like I’ve already paid my dues. Seriously?! Another one!

I often have a conversation with God about this. Sometimes I think he’s forgotten all the storms I’ve already walked through. “C’mon, God, spread the love. I’m sure there’s someone who’s had it easier than I have that is more deserving of this than me.”

In this season of my life God has been teaching me that we don’t “use up” our trials and then cruise on easy street for the remainder of our lives. Maybe you’ve been through many challenges in your life over the past several years that attempted to break you like I have. You come out stronger and relieved that it’s over. What I’ve found is that God gives me just enough relief, just enough time to catch my breath, before it’s time to batten down the hatches and gear up for another storm. Some are a Category 2 and some are a Category 4, headed for a 5.

There’s sort of a process I go through when I am undergoing a new challenge in my life and the first part is usually “why God why” and “haven’t I been through enough already?” It’s quite the pity party. Usually it takes a few people in my support system to remind me who I am and that it’s time to “gear up.” The next part is the “fight”, going through the thick of it. Finally, there is acceptance and usually gratitude. This is the part where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and you realize that God had a purpose for it all (whether you know what it is or not yet) and that as a result, you are stronger.

Hard things happen. Hard things help us grow. We don’t “use up” our allotment of hard things in life. It’s safe to say that we can always expect more to come in the future. And if we have the right perspective we know that these are actually opportunities in disguise. Not only are they opportunities for us to grow as people but they are opportunities for us to grow in our relationship with God. They are opportunities for us to see God’s miracles and the way he uses people to do his work here on earth.

I can guarantee if you’ve been through a storm in your life you have witnessed first hand the way God works through people. He always seems to send exactly what we need at precisely the right time. I have literally had strangers come into my life during a storm and become like family to me. They gave the support and the love I needed. It might be someone already in your circle, a prayer warrior, you know you can count on to keep you covered in prayer. It may be a friend who doesn’t allow you to let your pity party go on too long. It may be a spouse or significant other who is exactly the person you need to fight this battle with you.

We learn so much more in our hard times than we do when things are easy. I’ve looked back at every hard time I’ve gone through and realized that God used that challenge to prepare me for something that was coming in my life. We aren’t forced to grow when things are going along smoothly but we are forced to grow in the hard. We can’t be who we’re supposed to be or do what we’re supposed to be if we don’t seize the opportunity of the hard things.

Even if it’s hard right now…too hard to bear…keep going. We can’t escape the hard but we can lean on God and lean on the people he sends us to support us. This storm will pass. It is not without purpose.