How to Respond to Difficulties Based Off of Scripture

I’m here to talk about what I always talk about...our response to troubling seasons. Now I know you’re probably thinking, “Ugh Jack! Not only have you not written in so long, but now you’re writing about something you ALWAYS write about!”, but I don’t care. Plus, I bet not a single soul thought that. Anyways, here I am, alive and well, writing for the first time in what seems like a million years (“no one cares Jack, get back on track”). So...here I go. As humans, we are destined to live a life full of pain, hardship, and internal as well as external struggles. Why? Because of sin nature. Long story short, some girl ate a fruit (most definitely a nectarine), and shared it with her hubby. Which, yes, led to every soul going through hardships and living lives full of sin. I don’t know about y’all, but the more I think about it, I start to think, “man that nectarine must’ve looked preeetttyy good. Either that, or that serpent must’ve been a very good persuader.” I also wonder, “Was it really worth it? I mean, the fruit had to have tasted pretty darn delicious if they were trading away perfection for it. Right?!” All jokes aside, I think us Christians do more questioning when struggling, rather than faithing. Yes, faithing is a word. Or at least it is for me. Sometimes we jump to conclusions such as, “Ah! ____ happened because of ____!” Now, don’t you think that when we go through hell, we should go to Google? Like, Google always knows what to do. Well, I disagree. Sort of. I think the number one thing we must go to is God’s Word (I guess if you use Google to read the Bible that’s okay.)! My point is, if you’re going through something that you just need answers for, how about going to the Word of God rather than your best friend. Or going to God’s Word instead of going to Google. Can the Bible be confusing? Yes. Can it be boring to read a super thick book full of confusing vocabulary and theology? Yes. Can it help you find the answers you are looking for? Most of the time. Can it bring peace to you no matter what situation you are enduring? Yes. So, let’s look at some of what God’s Word says about responding to troubling times.

James 1:2-4 (ESV)

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Whoa. Thanks for throwing that right in our faces, James. I love James. His writing is always...straightforward. He always writes exactly what he is trying to get out. Here in this passage, he strictly says exactly what he wants to. I mean, the first sentence he answers the question! “Count it all joy”. So, the first step when enduring trouble, is to count that trouble/struggle as joy. God is a good God. He doesn’t just throw things at us to see how we react for fun. He puts things in our lives to direct our hearts. When you go through something you don’t want to go through, count it as joy. Be happy, but let your happiness continue through the distress, because that is essentially what joy really is. As we hold on to joy, we will see our faith grow. Faith is not something we learn to grow through studies. Faith is something that grows through first hand experience. These things thrown our way will grow us in our faith, as long as we allow it to do so.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Huh, ain’t a blog from Jack without these verses. Bahaha, it’s kind of true for you consistent readers of my blogs. All in all, I love these verses! Based off these verses, I believe the second step in our response ought to be contentment. When we are content with accepting that we are weak and that only a perfect Saviour can pull us through these troubling times, then we’ll begin to see His strength through the process of His healing. When we come to the end of ourselves, we start to see Jesus in a new light. We start to see how He is truly doing the heavy lifting in those troubling times. When we fully surrender our hearts to Him, we will see Him come through. Now, will it be in a way we want? Probably not. Look back to Jesus’ ministry. His disciples thought He was going to overthrow the Roman Empire and start His kingdom on earth, when, little did they know, He came to die a gruesome death hanging on a tree. We will see this in our lives. We’ll expect some miraculous healing, and end up thinking the problem is getting worse, when in reality, He is starting a new healing; His healing. So, walk through these deep rough waters with contentment. He is in control, and all we have to do is be silent.

Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

‭‭

Now the third step in what I believe are the best of many ways to respond to hardship. Rest. Rest. Rest. We overwhelm ourselves all the stinking time, and always get stressed out. So, why add more stress to the stress we accumulate on a day-to-day basis? Well, because stressing out is all we know. I think it’s safe to say that in our culture today, we ALL try way too hard to fix stuff. Well, now that you’ve read this, you know that you no longer need to. :) This is wayyy easier said than done of course, but it’s something to consider giving a try. Rest is so valued yet so underrated, if that makes sense. It is something so many people long for, yet as much of it as they get, they always claim they need more of it, almost like there’s only one way to find rest, and that they need to do that exact thing and that there is a certain point where they can finally sigh and contently say, “ahhhh. I’ve made it. All rested up and stuff”. In some devotionals I’ve been doing with a very dear friend of mine, we’ve been learning that there are different ways to find rest, and that rest is something we ought to never stop striving for. Rest can be found through deep studies in God’s Word, or more simple things, such as asking the Holy Spirit to lead us in the coming moments, as well as asking for rest. However my favorite way to think of obtaining rest is like the passage states, coming to the Father. It’s simple; just cast your burdens upon Him, and He will give you rest. When we give Him our burdens and struggles, we no longer feel the stress or need to fix things. We only have to worry about being with our Saviour, knowing that, as long as our Father in Heaven is with us, we have nothing to worry about.

So, just a rerun of what I wrote if you skimmed...

My three main steps to trusting your Saviour through the most difficult seasons are:

1. Count your troubles as joy. Don’t hate your circumstances, but find joy knowing He is with you.

2. Be content with your struggle. You don’t have it for nothing, it is a part in your spiritual growth and conforming to the image of His Son.

3. Find rest, even in the most stressful, busy, and difficult seasons life has to offer.

-Jack Hilsher