When Life is Hard


There are difficult things in life to understand, many of which, let's face it, we don't.  There are some who, at times, act like they understand.  For example, when the grandchild explains to the grandparent about all that is needed to beat the video game, talks about the hidden stages, and uses characters by name.  The grandparent nods, mutters mmmhmmm and ok, but has no clue what is going on.  You know, moments like those.  Yeah, sometimes life is hard to understand.  What happens when you don't know which way to go, what is happening, or why it is happening to you.  How can you explain your life, your faith?  What if you have trouble understanding it all.

1. Live on mercy

As Christians, we can live on one of three levels. We can return evil for good, which is the satanic level. We can return good for good and evil for evil, which is the human level. Or, we can return good for evil, which is the divine level. Jesus is the perfect example of this latter approach (1 Peter 2:21–23). As God’s loving children, we must do more than give “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” (Matthew 5:38–48), which is the basis for justice. We must operate on the basis of mercy, for that is the way God deals with us.

2. Rejoice that today is good

Psalm 34 describes what God means by “good days.” They are not necessarily days free from problems, for the psalmist wrote about fears (Psalm 34:4), troubles (Psalm 34:6, 17), afflictions (Psalm 34:19), and times of a heart that is broken (Psalm 34:18). A “good day” for the believer who “loves life” is not one in which he is pampered and sheltered, but one in which he experiences God’s help and blessing in the middle of life’s problems and trials. It is a day in which he exalts the Lord (Psalm 34:1–3), experiences answers to prayer (Psalm 34:4–7), tastes the goodness of God (Psalm 34:8), and senses the nearness of God (Psalm 34:18).  The next time you think you are having a “bad day” and hate life,
read Psalm 34, and you may discover you are really having a “good day” to the glory of God!

3. Live in the question mark

No one ever said that we will understand everything that happens in our lives.  There are many unknowns in which we live everyday.  Life is simpler to handle when we come to the place where we admit that we do not know it all and that we cannot control it all.  Worry is no longer a squatter in our lives.  Fear is replaced with trust.  Hope is renewed because of the assurance we have in Jesus Christ as Lord.  We must take what we do not understand and lay it before the throne of God.  Ask Him for the mercy and grace needed to deal with it today.  Rejoice that it is given.  Then, live today, not worrying about what tomorrow holds.  The future is safe, right where it should be, in the hands of God.

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