Comfort During Times of Hardship

Sometimes life stinks. Bad things happen, frustrating things happen, and things that just don’t make any sense happen. For some people, life stinks because of the consequences of a poor decision on their part. For example, I would assume that being in prison stinks, and the vast majority of people who end up in prison are there due to poor decisions to disregard the law. For other, life may stink due to a decision that someone else made that impacts the person even though they personally did nothing wrong. For example, if a wife is doing everything right (not saying she’s perfect, but you know what I mean), and the husband cheats on her. She didn’t do the action, but she is hurt by it. Other times the pain and hardships are due to the fact that we live in a world filled with war, strife, sickness, and death. None of this is a new thing. Hard times have been happening ever since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden (a result of their actions – it hurt them in the short term, and the rest of the world in the long term).

The Bible is full of people who endured hardships, and like us, some responded well and others not so much. In 1 Kings 18-19, the Bible tells the story of Elijah. 1 Kings 19:4 says, “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”” Elijah was a prophet of God, yet he was feeling so down that he asked God to just let him die. He had done the right things and obeyed God, and as a result of his obedience, he ticked off the King and Queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel threatened his life, and that’s when he ran to the wilderness and wanted to die.

King David was a man after God’s own heart.  Before becoming the king, he was a shepherd. He was ridiculed by his older brothers. King Saul, who was king before David, tried multiple times to kill him. He lost a child as a punishment for his sin with Bathsheba. (At the time when the child was conceived, Bathsheba was married to someone else. When Bathsheba told David that she was pregnant with his child, David had her husband killed.) Later on, another son of David’s revolted against his father and caused David to have to flee. Some of the hardships were consequences of David’s actions, but some were completely out of his control. David wrote much of the book of Psalms and in Psalm 28:1-2 he wrote:

1 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:

Do not be silent to me,

Lest, if You are silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my supplications

When I cry to You,

When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

In Genesis 37 and 39, the Bible tells of Joseph. Joseph’s brothers were jealous that Joseph was their father’s favorite son from his favorite wife and sold him into slavery. He made the best of it and worked hard and became the head servant of Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife made improper advances and Joseph didn’t just tell her no, he ran from her and the temptation that she offered. She was not happy about being rejected, so she lied to her husband saying that Joseph had been the aggressor, and Joseph was thrown into jail.

In the book of Job, Satan was talking to God about Job. He accused Job of being faithful to God only because his life was going well. God allowed Satan to destroy all of Job’s possessions and kill all of his children. All that Job had left was his wife and a few friends. Eventually all of them turned on Job. Job 2:9 says, “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”” He lost everything and his wife told him there was no point in him living anymore. He refused to curse God, but thought that death would bring him relief from the pain. Job 6:8-9 says, ““Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

9 That it would please God to crush me, that He would loose His hand and cut me off!”

The prophet Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. This book was a poem about the pain he felt about the destruction of Jerusalem and God’s punishment His people. He wasn’t one of the ones that turned away from God and worshipped idols. He obeyed God, yet he was punished for the sins of the people. Lamentations 3:6-8 says:

6 He has set me in dark places

Like the dead of long ago.

7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;

He has made my chain heavy.

8 Even when I cry and shout,

He shuts out my prayer.

17 You have moved my soul far from peace;

I have forgotten prosperity.

Life was difficult for Jeremiah, and he felt like his prayers weren’t being heard.

While Jesus was on earth, some of His friends were three siblings – Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. While Jesus was ministering elsewhere, He received word that Lazarus was sick and dying. By the time He got to Bethany where they lived, Lazarus had been dead for several days. John 11:21 says, “Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”” She knew Jesus could have healed him, but now her brother was dead.

Those were people who were prophets, people who were close to God, and personal friends of Jesus, yet they struggled just like we do. I would guess that everyone could relate to at least one of them. We’ve felt like peace was hard to find. We’ve questioned if God is even hearing out prayers. We’ve done the right thing and obeyed God, but hardship has still come into our lives. Those closest to us have turned their backs on us. We’ve been betrayed and stabbed in the back. We have questioned why God, who is able to heal or prevent tragedy, allowed loved ones to die. We’ve been in dark places and questioned if life is even worth living anymore. The people in the Bible experienced times when life was hard, and thousands of years later, we’re still having similar experiences. Thankfully the Bible tells the full stories of the people I used as examples. The hard times were just part of their stories, not the end of them.

God sent an angel to minister to Elijah and feed him. Then Elijah went into a cave, and God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but He was in none of those. Then He spoke to Elijah with a still, small voice. He told Elijah to go down off the mountain. He brought Elijah a helper in the ministry and told him of others who still followed after the one, true God. Elijah had previously felt alone, but God filled that void. Jezebel’s threat to kill Elijah never came to pass, and both she and Ahab were killed. Elijah, however, never died. When his time on earth was done, God sent a chariot of fire to take him straight to Heaven.

David’s life story was one of highs and lows, but even in the midst of the hard times, he clung to God’s promises. Psalm 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.” Earlier in the same chapter he begged God not to be silent and to hear his prayers, and he was comforted and acknowledge that God gives him strength and protection. The book of Psalms is full of passages that bring comfort in difficult times.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even when we are the most broken inside, He restores our souls. When we’ve messed up, He forgives us. Yes, there will still be consequences for our actions, but God will be with us and will not give up on us.

Even in jail, Joseph still trusted God. He worked hard serving the other prisoners and found favor in the eyes on the jail keeper. He could have curled up and had a pity party about how unfair his life was. Most of what happened to him wasn’t his fault, yet there he was, a slave in jail. But then it all turned around. God used something as commonplace as dreams to get Joseph out of jail. Next thing he knew, he was the advisor to the Pharaoh of Egypt. From a slave in jail to 2^nd in command in Egypt because of dreams. God can use anything, no matter how small or big, to take care of us. The story doesn’t end there. A horrible famine came over the whole region and because of Joseph’s wise, God-given advice, Egypt was prepared for it. People from other countries came to seek food, and Joseph’s brothers were some of those people. He could have been bitter at them or even had them killed, but he chose to forgive them and help them. God used Joseph’s trials to bring him to the place where He needed him to save both Egypt and his own family, but none of that would have happened had Joseph not trusted God even when he was in some of the worst circumstances.

Job did not listen to his wife and friends who gave him bad advice. He acknowledged that even though bad things had happened to him that God was still good. He also prayed for the friends who had given him such a hard time. God eventually restored everything he’d lost and then some. He had more children and his wealth was doubled. That isn’t to say that if we’re going through tough times financially that God will make us rich. The Bible never says that. It does say that God knows our needs and will take care of us. Like Job, our lives may not always make sense. Bad things happen, our health fails, and our friends turn out not to be as good of friends as we thought. We may not understand, but we can trust that God has a plan and can work things out for His purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Lamentations 3 did not stop with Jeremiah being hopeless. The situation for his country was dire, but He knew that God would never abandon them. Lamentations 3:22-26 says:

22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

His compassions never fail. I hope in Him. What a comfort to know that God will always take care of us. Even when things seem bleak, He is in control and is compassionate and merciful.

Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother when Jesus arrived. Even though they wished that Jesus had arrived sooner and healed their brother before he died, they still trusted Jesus. Jesus ended up raising their brother from the dead. Even before raising Lazarus, He told his disciples that He was glad that He had not been there so that they could believe. The disciples had already seen Jesus heal people, but this was the first time that they would see someone come back to life. Jesus showed them that He had power over death itself. While we may not have our loved ones brought back from the dead, if they believe in Jesus and his salvation, death is not the end. John 11:25-26 says, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”” 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 says, “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” We may not understand why God chooses to take our loved ones when He does, but we have the hope that we will see them again one day. Yes, here on earth there is a hole in our family or circle of friends where that person used to be, and that hurts. Like Mary and Martha, we prayed so hard and had faith that God could heal a sick relative, but they died anyway. Did God not hear our prayers? Jesus heard the prayers of Mary and Martha, yet he allowed Lazarus to die. Their plan was not His plan. It’s hard when the answer to our prayers is “no”, but we can trust that God has a plan even if we don’t understand it. We mourn the loss of a loved one when they are taken to Heaven, but compared to eternity, our time on earth – and our time without the loved one here on earth – is relatively short, and then we will be together again in a place with no tears, no loss, no sickness, and no death.

I’ve been through difficult times in my life. Times when I couldn’t see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. I’ve asked God why He allowed people I loved to die, why He allowed things to happen to me and to people I love, why He put me in circumstances that I didn’t like. I’ve been in dark places like Jeremiah talked about in Lamentations 3:6. I’ve cried myself to sleep. But through it all, God has been faithful. In the Old Testament, when God would bring His people through difficult times, he would have them erect a monument so that when later generations saw it, they would ask why it was there and would hear the story of how God took care of His people. We can’t always control what happens in our lives, but we can control how we respond. When hard times come, we can either become bitter or we can look back and see how God has comforted us and provided for us in the part. We can trust that he will do the same in our future. Looking back on my life to this point, I can see the times when God brought me through the tough times. No, I don’t always respond as I should immediately, but I come around after I’ve had time to process things. Psalm 30:5b says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Hard times come and happiness comes and goes based on external circumstances, but joy is something God gives us that even the worst circumstances can’t take away unless we let them. My friends, I pray that you choose to hold onto that joy and not to let bitterness take hold and steal that joy. God is good all the time and has a plan for your life, even when things don’t make sense, and even when life hurts.