Authoring Hardship

August 2, 2012 — 6 Comments

Photo Credit: Flickr user Rookie Shooter (Creative Commons)

We tend to believe all hardship in our lives comes from the enemy.

We lose our job. The enemy must be attacking.
A family member gets sick. We think the enemy is behind it.
Accusations arise against us. We know the enemy is out for our reputation.
Money gets tight. The enemy is after our future.
The car breaks down. The enemy is messing with our day.
Work gets hard, the kids get in trouble and God’s promise doesn’t happen when we thought it would. The enemy is clearly to blame.

He is the author of hardship.
He is the master of pain.
He is the one who makes our lives difficult.

God would never author hardship in our lives.

But the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt paints a different story.

Every time Moses stood before Pharaoh, every time he demanded the Israelites go free, every time he stretched out his hand and a plague was unleashed against Egypt, something interesting happened.

God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

“And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” Exodus 14:31

God allowed a season of hardship into the life of the Israelites. He was behind their increased turmoil and pain. He was the one who sent the Egyptian army chasing after them in the desert even after the Israelites had gone free.

Because God had a bigger plan.

He knew what would happen in their lives when the Egyptians were overthrown.
He knew how the pain would mold and shape them into the men and women He called them to be.
He knew how their faith would grow when they saw Him move.

He knew the outcome was better than giving them a comfortable life.

Every hardship positions us to see God do something mighty.

He will let us to experience loss if it means He gets to take care of us.
He will allow the accusations if it develops our character.
He will let us experience hardship, trials and turmoil if it builds our trust.

Every hardship, every doubt, every season of turmoil and loss and attack is being used to build our faith and show us a greater glimpse of God’s character.

It’s how He grows us into the men and women He has called us to be.

How has God used hardships in your life to display His power and grow you closer to Him?

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Jason Vana

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Jason is an imaginative leader with a heart to ignite younger generations to impact the world for Christ. He currently lives in Monmouth, Illinois, and oversees Ignite Student Ministries - a dynamic ministry to ignite youth, young adults and university students to passionately pursue Christ and transform society in high schools, work places and universities around the world.

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  • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

    Yes He has. When my son was born(You know the story) was a hard time. It caused us to move closer into God and a deeper trust in Him. Great post.

    • http://www.jasonvana.com Jason Vana

      It’s crazy how trials will push us closer to God. I’m glad to see though that you guys came through that hardship and saw God move in some powerful ways.

      • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

         Yes it is.

  • http://www.justcris.com/ Cris Ferreira

    Beautiful post, Jason. And so true.
    I’m an IT Specialist and I’ve worked for more than 15 years delivering IT projects. And through these years, I noticed that I’ve always learned more about the product I was working with when problems happened. That’s when I needed to explore, dig deeper on the documentation, search for clues, do more tests, etc. If everything worked fine on the first attempt, I wouldn’t learn nearly as much.
    And I learned that the same thing also applies to life. We learn more about life and about ourselves, and mostly about God when we face problems and challenges. I know I do.

    • http://www.jasonvana.com Jason Vana

      Wow – that is a powerful illustration, Cris! We learn so much more about ourselves and our God when we face problems and challenges.

  • http://About.me/marcmillan Marc Millan

    Important, God may not approve of it but he will allow it, only in his loving discipline to get us to a place where he can move in deeper fellowship. I heard it said by Tim Keller like this once, God is so good, he will allow temporary harm to you so that you won’t suffer greater harm later on, he is a shield around us. Now that sounds strange, but it IS LOVE.
    M_