The soft answer is because it is hard. The hard answer is because we are soft. When I feel overwhelmed, and I do, when I feel like there’s just too much tension in my life, I often go back to D-Day. However difficult a situation might be, I’ve never been in that kind of situation. I do not struggle to understand why so many soldiers suffer from PTSD. I do struggle to understand why they all don’t. My hardships may seem more difficult than some other people’s but surely there are others whose hardship is more difficult than mine.
Perhaps, however, what makes it so difficult is the devil’s incessant attacks in the midst of hardship. He does not flee during hard times but attacks, pressing his advantage. He adds insult to injury by insisting that not only are we going through hardship, but that such proves that God is against us. It is one thing to have a health scare, one thing to have month left after the money is gone, but it is a whole other thing to have the Maker of Heaven and Earth see you as His enemy.
Which is why the solution to hardship is rarely to alleviate it. Instead the solution is always to repent and believe the gospel. We repent for, among other things, our ingratitude. So much of our hardship is grounded in a stubborn refusal to be grateful for the overwhelming blessings we already have. We look at the glass as half empty, forgetting not only that it’s half full, but that we are due no glass, no water and we are in no danger of literally dying of thirst. He leads us beside still waters, and we complain that we not on a tropical beach watching waves roll in. He brings us to green pastures and we grumble that it’s been a while since He gave us a sugar cube.
Repenting and believing the gospel go hand in hand. As we repent for our ingratitude we enter into gratitude, remembering that even if we are literally dying of thirst, when we are good and dead we’ll be warmly welcomed into paradise. We answer the devil’s accusations with God’s assurances. Not only does He not see me as His enemy but He tells me I am His son. Not only is He not pouring out His wrath on me, but has already poured out His wrath on His Son.
Which means that every hardship is a gift, the work of God in reshaping us into the glorious image of Jesus. Of course it hurts to have our rough edges sanded off. Hardships don’t come wrapped up as blessings. Often, in fact, they come from others who are intent on hurting you. None of which changes the truth that they are blessings and that they actually help us. Jesus always wins, and He is the one orchestrating all things. We do not simply grin and bear it. We do not either deny the pain. Instead we cry out to the One who loves us, trusting Him and giving thanks.