Not many people enjoy the topic of hardship. You know it’s there, but you just keep dancing around it like it’ll go away. We even avoid the book of Job just because it talks all about his hardship. We also like to ignore the part in Genesis that speaks of the fall of man bringing hardship.
Just because we don’t like to talk about it doesn’t mean it isn’t important, though. One thing that we as Christians seem to glance over is that Christianity doesn’t mean free from pain, trouble, or mishaps. I know, shocker. The life with God can be hard at times.
Especially for Christians in countries that pretend to tolerate Christianity, it can be a slap in the face when hardship rears its ugly head. Sometimes a Christian in that situation feels like God doesn’t love them anymore, maybe they messed up, or maybe there never really was a God.
None of those theories are correct, I want to make that very clear. To show you where the hardship really comes from, I want you to check out Job 1:1;6-12.
In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Job 1:1
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Job 1:6-12
New International Version
Just in these few verses, who was the one that wanted to bring hardship upon Job? Whose idea was it? Who actually went through with it? I sure hope you said Satan.
See, God doesn’t bring bad things upon us, but He allows so much to happen to grow us. That doesn’t mean He hates us, that means He knows we have a limit, and He is keeping Satan within that.
If you’ve read all the way to the end of Job, you will notice that God replenished Job because Job continued to be faithful to God even through the hardship. Have you been faithful through the hardship? Or are you finding yourself questioning whether the Bible is real, and God really exists?
I am not saying that it is evil for you to get worn out, but there is a difference between being worn out and denying the existence of God. Look at 2020. Seems like the worst year that could have ever occurred. Is that a good enough reason to deny a wonderful God? No.
As you recall from Genesis 3, we are the very reason that Satan is allowed to do such horrible things. When we sinned in the Garden of Eden, we brought destruction into the world. We decided that we knew it all and could do it without God.
Thankfully, God did not leave us without hope. He gave us hope of eternal life, a cleansing from sin, so that we could fix our eyes on what is ahead instead of the hardship in front of us.
Let’s look at John 3:16-17.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
New International Version
How much clearer can God’s intentions be? He loves you, wants you to have a relationship with Jesus, be cleansed from sin, so that you can live with Him in eternity! Hardship is not who He is, so don’t blame life on Him. Look toward the future and find hope and life.
I encourage you to pray and ask God to fix your eyes to the future He has waiting for you in Heaven. If you don’t know Jesus, check out my other posts and learn more about faith and God. Now is the time to believe, now is the time to give your life to Jesus. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so don’t put off faith any longer, please. For your sake I ask that you don’t.
