When Life Is Hard

“Having gained approval through their faith” (Hebrews 11:39).

Life doesn’t always give you what you want.

A month ago, death gripped my heart and didn’t want to let go. Three times shocked back to life, the doctors scrambled to inflate my blocked artery and insert stents to keep me alive. I am here now by the grace of God and the amazing skills of professionals who didn’t know me but acted as if I was the most important person in the world.

The road ahead to recovery is long and might be filled with detours along the way, but, I am grateful and my faith is intact. Why wouldn’t it be? Who else could give me that peace that I experienced on the operating table? Who else could have arranged the timing of my heart attack to be exactly when the best were ready for me? Who else can make each day worth living like He can? Who else has prepared a place for me in His home in glory?

Life is unfair, of course, but that isn’t reason to complain. Your health may suffer, your finances might be low, your job unbearable. That is how life goes in a sin-cursed world. Everyone struggles, everyone hurts, but that is no reason to let go of faith in Jesus. He suffered. His life was hard, yet He overcame. To give up just because life is hard is to let go of the one thing that brings hope to your suffering.

We are called to a greater faith than to despair in the presence of hardship. If you give up on God, you are on your own. He is your Creator, your Savior, your Lord. He will use this life of trial to make you better than any life of ease and comfort can ever do. You just have to trust that He knows what He is doing.

The time for your faith to go deeper is now.