Hardship

Hebrews 12:7

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Acts 14:22b

We must go through many  hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

Last week I started attending a grief counseling group.  There are people of all ages, shapes and sizes.  There are also people with GRIEF of ages, shapes and sizes.  Men and women,  sons and daughters, mom and dads, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives…all experiencing the same thing…horrible unrelenting grief.  For some in this group, grief and hardship came suddenly and without any warning…for others of us the journey was long, with our grief starting even before the person was gone.  As I sit and listen to these wonderful  people share their hearts, mine is filled with compassion and sorrow for their loss.  And it makes me realize that not just me, but all of us are or will be experiencing hardship in this life.

The word hardship in the Greek has several meanings and none of them are pleasant.  Hardship means to have trouble, distress, to feel pressure from a circumstance,  to feel compressed, to have the sense of being in a narrow space.  But, the one meaning that struck me was this one…to feel as if you are being pressed together or pressed hard upon.  I know that hardship comes in many shapes and sizes.  It can be financial, emotional, physical…it can come from a person or job, from an illness or death.  We don’t know how long the hardship will last, or usually how to even find our way out of it.  Right now, my hardship is my intense grief and longing for Rick.

Although hardships must come into our lives…we can learn several things from Scripture and from our relationship with the Lord that can help us.  First of all we’re told that we are to endure hardship as discipline.  I’m not so sure I like how that sounds…smile.  The hardship is bad enough Lord…but discipline too?  Yes…discipline.  As a parent I know very well the importance of discipline.  If Rick and I had not disciplined our children I have no idea what they would be doing right now…or if they would have their relationship with Him that they have.  Discipline is vital in all areas of our lives…especially in hardship.  If  I endure this grief, or whatever the hardship may be and do not LEARN something from it…do not allow the Lord to teach me in the midst of it…have I wasted the hardship?  When I finally arrive at the other side of my hardship…will I be any different…any better for having gone through it?  Did I allow the discipline of the hardship to make me better or bitter?

Second…we must endure many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.  Why is that?  It seems that God would want it to be easy to enter into His Kingdom, so that everyone can come.  The invitation has been written, signed in His blood and sent…but the Kingdom of God is so far above any other kingdom that to enter it takes great effort and much discipline.  This world is full of hardships.  Just come to my grief meeting with me and you will hear firsthand what ordinary, everyday people…people just like you..and me…are going through.  Horrible hardships.  But enduring the hardship with the end in mind…the eternal Kingdom of God…somehow makes the hardship easier to endure.  If you are a parent you have endured hardships.  Sleepless nights, going without something you wanted,  working extra jobs, giving up your plans, sharing your food, emotional stress, broken hearts…and so many more.  But, the reason for enduring the hardship was the end result…a whole child…emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  We would go through any hardship for our children.   And in this verse God is whispering to us the same message.  Wholeness…for eternity.  He knows this world offers us hardships…but He knows we are not meant just for this world.  So to prepare us for His kingdom we must endure hardships…allow them their work of discipline in our lives and move forward with Him in faith.

Feeling pressed hard upon…that’s where I am most days.  The pressure is sometimes so bad that it seems like physical pressure…not just emotional.  This is truly a hardship…unlike any other I have experienced.  You may be enduring something right now.  Allow the Lord to make you better through the discipline you learn from it…and may we all endure our hardships KNOWING the Kingdom is soooo worth it all.

Much love through the hardship of grief,

Debbie

This entry was written on March 12, 2010 at 12:16 am