Hard Is Not the Same as Bad
“If we constantly run every time things get tough, we will stunt our growth in Christ and never embrace how God wants to use the hard things in our lives to mold and shape us.”
A couple of weeks ago, my 16-year-old son went to Mexico on a mission trip with our church. They were heading to minister at a local church on the Baja Peninsula, where they would engage in various church projects, lead services, and support the local pastor and his team in their ministry. They left on a Thursday morning and arrived later that afternoon. We checked in with him, and he informed us that the team had arrived safely and would start working at the church the next day. We didn't hear anything from him on Friday, but on Saturday morning, we received an early text from our missions pastor. The news was disheartening: everyone on the team had contracted food poisoning the night before, and the entire team was down for the count. If you've ever experienced food poisoning, you know it isn't pretty. Young men and women, all banding together to minister to a local church, were sidelined with an illness that took them out of the game. The challenging part was that the next morning, the entire team was scheduled to lead the worship service—music, childcare, teaching, you name it. But no one was feeling 100%. Nevertheless, they pushed through the difficulty, battled their way past physical woes, and ministered despite how they were feeling. It was a challenging situation that God used to teach them about reliance upon him, not only spiritually but also for physical strength.
As I pondered this, and another heart-wrenching situation I dealt with this past week, I began to reflect on how hard things can be at times. Whether facing the loss of a loved one, a terrible health diagnosis, or simply food poisoning, life can get downright tough. However, as I wrestled with this challenging news and dealt with my own anxieties regarding my son being sick hundreds of miles away in another country and experiencing an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, I couldn't get over the supernatural joy I felt, knowing that God was in control. This phrase kept going through my mind … Hard is not the same as bad.
Given that The Bonhoeffer Project is a disciple-making ministry and this is a disciple-making column, I can confidently say that one of the major things I've learned about disciple making is that it's not easy; in fact, it's hard. Consequently, if we equate hard with bad, we rebuff any work that God is trying to do in our souls and through our efforts. If we constantly run every time things get tough, we will stunt our growth in Christ and never embrace how God wants to use the hard things in our lives to mold and shape us.
So, how do we overcome the tendency to see hard things as bad things? The first thing we need to do is recognize that God is in control. Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." This should remind you and me that in any and every situation, God is working. While things may not look great or feel pleasant at the moment, knowing that God is in control should give us the fortitude to not only press through the hard stuff but also to look for what God is doing in the situation and in us in everything. To acknowledge that God is working in all things is to acknowledge that God is in charge, you are not him, and he is working things for his glory. It is our job to investigate through the tough situations to make sure that we don't inadvertently thwart or overlook what God is trying to teach us in any and every situation.
The second thing we need to do is prepare ourselves for the hard. In American culture, there is an aversion to hard things. We have this decidedly American way of thinking that promotes the idea that hard things must mean that the enemy is afoot and we must be doing something wrong because if it's hard, it must be bad. I truly believe that this is where discipleship has run aground in the Western Church because disciple making is hard. If we are averse to hard things, we will either punt on our responsibilities, or we will try avenues of least resistance to make the work easier and make it seem as if God is working through the ease. But I contend that if you are going to get into someone's business and do the hard work of discipling them, there are going to be tough times. Truth be told, people are messy, hard, difficult, and cranky at times. I know this because I can be too. We must prepare ourselves for the hard work ahead. Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but there are too few laborers—meaning hard workers. Not those who look at the slightest opposition as a "sign" that the Lord isn't in the hard work.
Lastly, we must have fortitude to do the hard work. What if David had given up on the idea of building the temple as soon as God said his hands were stained with blood and he couldn't build it? What if Paul stopped preaching the gospel because the religious elite told him to stop? What if Peter and John stopped preaching the gospel because local governments told them to stop? Or, what if Jesus cried out to the angels when he was hanging on the cross and told them to take him down? Then we would still be in our sin, and we wouldn't have our salvation. Hebrews 12:2 says that it was "for the joy that was set before him that he endured the cross." It was the end goal that made the endurance worth it. Jesus saw through the pain and hardship to the ultimate goal. He looked past the momentary light affliction to see the joy of salvation for his people.
When you see someone put their faith in Jesus and you have the beautifully enormous task of discipling them, you are embarking on the most beautifully hard work imaginable. The task of making disciples is not one that Jesus ever said would be easy. But when we see Jesus face to face, all of the hard work, enduring tough things, or slogging through trials and tribulations will be worth every second. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us that “We all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
My prayer for you this coming year is that you will face down the tendency to equate hard with bad and recognize that God is doing a work in and through you as you chose, like Jesus, to do what is hard for the glory of the kingdom!
