I have heard it said that when we walk through suffering or hard seasons, we shouldn’t ask the Lord to take us out of the hard but rather to show us what He wants to teach us through it.
A few weeks ago, I was washing dishes and grumbling under my breath about a few frustrating things that had played out over the day. I looked up to the skies from my kitchen window and with a loud sigh I said, “Okay Lord, can you just teach us whatever we are supposed to learn so we can move on from all this hard already?”
I look back now on this little conversation I was having with God, and I laugh. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work that way. Also, I have such a stubborn personality that I am sure the Holy Spirit will keep having to teach me the same thing for the next few years as well.
The other day I found myself right back in the same place.I felt a hint of anger rising within me as I have been feeling so worn from the constant fight. I looked down at the broom in my hand and instantly thought, “Man, I think God is building my character.”
Here is what I have noticed, we try to avoid pain at any cost. When something gets hard, we would rather whip out a remote and hit the fast forward button to skip to the next part. Very rarely do we look at our situation and say, “Okay, what is it that I can learn from this? How can God sharpen me through this time?”
As we are often so eager to jump from the hard to the good, we fail to realize that it is in the hard that He prepares us for the good. It is in those rough and trying seasons where God molds us and shapes our hearts to be able to receive what He has in store for us.
If there is one thing that I have learned during these past three years, it is that hard times produce perseverance, grit, and take you into a more intimate relationship with Jesus. Friends, we have so much that we can learn in the pressing times.
If you are walking through a difficult season and you feel beaten down and are asking the Lord what is the purpose of this time, I want to encourage you that God can use this time to…
Build you character
Brew new passions in you
Lead you into a more intimate relationship with the Father
Prepare you for what is ahead. Whether that means you will minister to others who walk through similar situations as you or that He is stretching you now to know how to handle things to come
Teach you that your dependence is on Him alone
Show you that true joy comes from the Savior, not from things of this world
Sharpen you to be more fierce and courageous for Him
Contrary to popular opinion, hard times aren’t a curse and they don’t come because we have bad luck. In fact, these exact times that we want to wish away can actually be blessings. These pressing times or hard situations that we want to fast forward through are the exact times that the Lord uses to mold us more into His likeness and equip us to minister to others. So keep persevering, friend. He is building our characters.
Journey to Dominican 