Walking Through Hard Times

It happens.  No one is immune to difficult days.  Sometimes those days morph into weeks, months, years.  Let’s face it – bad things sometimes happen to good people.  As Christians, when walking through hard times, we technically should stay hopeful, positive and thankful.  But, in reality, being a Christian doesn’t necessarily make hard times easier to handle.  Hope, positivity and thankfulness can wane depending on how severe the difficulties we are facing.

The Bible tells us that God is with us, will help us, protect us.  Isaiah 41:10 (GNT):  “Do not be afraid—I am with you!  I am your God—let nothing terrify you!  I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.”   All that is true; but, it can be easy to look at our circumstances and just not see His hand in our life at that moment.  At that point, we have to make a conscious decision to believe those words and stand firm.   

We need to take a hard look at our lives and determine why the hard times are happening to us.

*Is this the consequences of sin and/or disobedience – either our own or fallout from someone else’s sin/disobedience?  Romans 3:23 (CEV) says: “All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” and 1 John 1:8 (CEV) says: “If we say we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts.”

*Is there some kind of lesson we need to learn that we’ve been avoiding because of pride, being selfish or being rebellious?  Philippians 2:3-4 (ERV) says:  “In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.” and Proverbs 17:11 (AMP) says:  “A rebellious man seeks only evil; Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.”

*Maybe there is a lesson to be learned that will enable us to help or bless others?  2 Cor 1:3-5 (ERV) says:  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father who is full of mercy, the God of all comfort. He comforts us every time we have trouble so that when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us. We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ.”

*Is it a blatant attack of the enemy?  One of the major ways Satan attacks us is with fear – which is in direct opposition to faith.  How we react to the enemy attacks will tell a lot about how strong our faith and confidence in God really is.  We must remember God has already defeated Satan. John 16:33 (TLB), Jesus says:  “I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world.”

*Are we wavering in our faith – not doing all we can to build it up and strengthen it?  James 1:2-3 (EASY) says:  “My Christian friends, remember to be happy, even when many kinds of trouble happen to you. Troubles can help you. God wants to see if you really trust him. Your faith in God will become stronger as a result of these troubles.”

Today I was listening to Brian Trent & his wife Amanda – pastors of Lighthouse Church in Hampton, SC – as they shared one of their little spiels on Facebook.  I really liked what they shared so I want to tell you some of what they said.  But, because their thoughts are based on the story in Daniel 3, about the three young Jewish men – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – I want to cover some of that story as a refresher along with some of my own thoughts, because I think we will all agree that they were definitely walking through hard times.  

The king had built a huge statue of himself & declared that everyone was to bow down and worship it.  But those young men refused to do that and it made the king furious.  So he ordered that a furnace be heated up to 7 times hotter than usual.  Daniel 3:20-21 (AMP) says then the king “commanded certain strong men in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these [three] men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their turbans, and their other clothes, and were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.”  (Sidenote here – because it mentions all their clothing in detail, in my minds eye I can just imagine that it wasn’t only their hands and feet that were bound – but I can see ropes wrapped all around them, with their arms bound to their body – but, of course, we don’t know that for fact.)  Then in verse 24 suddenly the king jumps up and says to all his counselors:  “‘…Did we not throw three men who were tied up into the midst of the fire?’” They confirmed that fact to him.  Then in verse 25 – “He answered, ‘Look! I see four men untied, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!’” 

So right in the middle of their hard times, those three young men were in that blazing hot furnace in the presence of Jesus, untied!  Since they were no longer bound, they could’ve left the furnace but they didn’t – not until the king called them out (vs 26.)  I personally believe that they were perfectly content in the midst of their hard circumstances, but only because they were in the presence of their Lord!   After they came out of the furnace, verse 27 says:  “The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.”

Now back to a couple of the points Brian and Amanda made that I’d never thought of and really liked.  “The only thing that was consumed by the fire was the very thing that bound them when they went in.” And, “God can use the fire” (our hard times) “to eliminate what’s binding us and get us into the presence of Jesus.”  

I love those points and I believe the end results of our hard times are highly dependent on our attitude.  Take notice of the attitude of those three young men when confronted by the king:  “‘I hear that you refuse to worship my gods and the gold statue I have set up. Now I am going to give you one more chance. If you bow down and worship the statue when you hear the music, everything will be alright. But if you don’t, you will at once be thrown into a flaming furnace. No god can save you from me.’  The three men replied, ‘Your Majesty, we don’t need to defend ourselves. The God we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But even if he doesn’t, we still won’t worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up.’”  (Daniel 3:14-18 CEV)  Those young men stood in faith, unconcerned about the hard times they would be facing.  

In Isaiah 43:2 (GNT) God said:  “‘When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you.  When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you.’”  

Difficult things happen to everyone at some point – but always remember, it will be okay.  Romans 8:28 (TLB) says:  “And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.”

When we’re tempted to complain or get discouraged we only need to look as far as our Lord Jesus as our example for enduring hard times.  He was sinless yet suffered terribly and then He died a horrible death – just to save us.  1 Peter 2:18-21 (ERV) says:  “You know that in the past the way you were living was useless. It was a way of life you learned from those who lived before you. But you were saved from that way of living. You were bought, but not with things that ruin like gold or silver. You were bought with the precious blood of Christ’s death. He was a pure and perfect sacrificial Lamb. Christ was chosen before the world was made, but he was shown to the world in these last times for you. You believe in God through Christ. God is the one who raised him from death and gave honor to him. So your faith and your hope are in God.”

Things happen for a reason, whether we understand it or not.  We need to walk by faith and not by what we see and hear.  Remember – Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG) says:  “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.  Don’t assume that you know it all.  Run to God! Run from evil!  Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!”  (I really love this particular interpretation of that last sentence!  As we run to God and bask in His presence, that’s what we have to look forward to.)  

So as we face hard times, let’s move into God’s presence then let him remove whatever is binding us up!  He’ll be that fourth man in the fire with us always!

Written by Karran Martin – February 27-28, 2025

[All bold emphasis is mine]