WHEN LIFE GETS HARD

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

(2 Corinthians 12:7)

WHEN LIFE GETS HARD

“The Bible is filled with the chronicles of people’s difficulties,” I said the other day, I hadn’t thought about that before. The Bible portrays problems, disasters, and disappointments in the lives of people. As we read, we learn they either overcame or succumbed. Many people see their lives the same way with not much else in between. It’s black or white; they succeed or they failed; they win or they lose. It’s all or nothing. Maybe that’s why they seem to lead despondent, despairing lives. If their life isn’t absolutely perfect, if everything doesn’t go their way, then their life is a complete failure. And we know no one’s life is perfect.

So imperfect people with imperfect lives (and that is all of us) bemoan the fact things aren’t completely perfect instead of being happy and enjoying what is good. They read in the Bible about contentment, peace, and victory and wonder how they missed out. In their worst moments, they examine their lives and have trouble focusing on anything positive.

I have three things to suggest (learned from personal experience) when life gets really hard. First, we need to make the assumption that there is a divine purpose behind the difficulties. Nothing happens by accident. Nothing happens to us outside of God’s notice. If we’re Christians, that’s an assumption we can have because we serve a loving, all-powerful God.

Look to the apostle Paul for guidance. Besides the physical pain, he was shunned, rejected, and despised. One of the things that made that man so remarkable was that he believed God had a purpose in everything that happened to him. Granted that none of us are like Paul and our lives aren’t in constant danger. We don’t have the horrible persecutions he endured. His life was far more extreme, and perhaps that’s why he understood something significant and could stand firm: He knew God had a purpose.

Paul understood much and had an amazing number of divine revelations, but God didn’t want him to become puffed up with pride. God gave him what Paul referred to as a “thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan.” We don’t know what either term means, but we do know God had a reason for sending the thorn. It wasn’t a capricious act; it was to keep him humble. Paul begged for deliverance and the Lord answered, “My grace is sufficient for you…” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Again, that’s the points: God had a purpose and he remained with Paul in the midst of his suffering.

Second, God might reveal the purpose for our difficulties, however, God might not reveal them. In those moments, we need to think God’s words to Israel: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law”(Deuteronomy 29:29).

In effect, Moses said to the people, God has secrets – hidden things – that we may never understand in this life. God doesn’t choose to make everything known to us, but God does reveal enough to us to obey.

I don’t know why we have so many problems and hardships. It’s not my divine calling to explain God’s purposes or patterns. What I can do is affirm that God has a reason, yes, a divine purpose, behind everything that happens in our lives.

Where does that leave us? It leaves us with a choice. If we can honestly say God has a purpose in the terrible things that happen to us, our major responsibility is to figure out how we can best serve that purpose.  It doesn’t mean we have to figure out the reason behind it. God calls for our loving obedience to the task we have, Just that.

It’s often not an immediate revelation or any high-level calling. I believe my purpose at this stage of my life is to spread my story of life after death and life and a meaningful life before death. I didn’t grasp that fact in 1989 or 1990 or even in 2000. Now I get it because I’m doing what I believe God has called to do.

The psalmist cries out, “I desire to do your will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8). That’s also my prayer, and I frequently pray that I’ll always delight in obeying God’s will.

The third thing to help when my life gets hard is to remember that God’s grace is always sufficient for every problem and for every moment we’re alive. The Bible assures us that God won’t put a load on us heavier that we can handle. I know that, but during my recovery there were times when I was in such pain that I thought it was more that I could handle.

Somehow I did handle it. I learned I had a stronger desire for survival than I would have believed. I learned many things about myself and I also grew spiritually in those horrible moments. I hope never to have to that kind of pain again, but I know that God was by my side every second and his grace was as sufficient then as it is in any need we have.

Let's Pray:

Lord God, I don’t see a lot of purpose in the problems I face. I wonder why such things happen to me . Help me to get my attention off the reason and to concentrate on obeying what I already know to do. Help me to do what you’ve already shown me to do with my life. In Jesus Name. Amen.

By Pr. Don Piper – He is the author of the book “90 Minutes in Heaven” where he tells us his story about when he was driving back home from a minister's conference, and his car collides with a semi-truck that crosses into his lane. He was pronounced dead at the scene. For the next 90 minutes, Pastor Don Piper experiences heaven where he was greeted by those who had influenced him spiritually. He hears beautiful music and feels true peace. While back on earth, a passing minister who had also been at the conference is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man was dead. Pastor Piper miraculously comes back to life... and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery. For years Piper kept his heavenly experience to himself. Finally, however, friends and family convinced him to share his remarkable story in the book, we strongly advise you to read if you can.