When we go through hard times, unless you take the time to think about it, you really don't know if the reason you are going through hard times is a test, an attack, reaping from some negative seed sown in the past or stubbornness towards a God-given assignment.
A TEST? - (Job 1:1, 6-12, 23:10-11, 42:12) "There was a man named Job living in the land of Uz who worshipped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil… When that day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, ‘What have you been doing?’ Satan answered, ‘I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.’ ‘Did you notice my servant, Job?’ the Lord asked. ‘There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.’ Satan replied, ‘Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But now suppose you take away everything he has – he will curse you to your face!’ ‘All right,’ the Lord said to Satan, ‘everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.’ So Satan left… God knows every step I take; if he tests me, he will find me pure. I follow faithfully the road he chooses, and never wander to either side… The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than he had blessed the first."
Those who feel they are doing everything right in terms of following the Lord's will are many times confused and caught off guard because their hard times is simply the Lord testing their faith and their walk to see if they will stay strong in the Lord. Is your faith as strong when it seems that the Lord has abandoned you? Christians who truly seek to live by the Word know that no matter what the source of the hard times, they hold on to God’s word and His promises. (2nd Cor. 4:18) “For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.”
AN ATTACK? (Matt. 12:43-45) "When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one, it says to itself, ' I will go back to my house.' So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean and all fixed up. Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than he was at the beginning."
Is a demonic attack the source of your hard times? If you are not living in the will of God, then you are subject to attacks at any time. And since you don’t know the Lord, demonic forces can work through you to cause pain and anguish to yourself and others. Many of those times, you don’t even know it’s a spirit working in you until others identify your behavior as “not acting like yourself.” You find yourself with extreme mood swings, always depressed, self-destructive, hateful and angry along with a myriad of other negative emotions that suck the joy and motivation out of your life. If you don’t know what’s happening to you in this case, you don’t what do fight. If you don’t know the Word, you don’t know that you have power over the spirits behind these negative emotions. You need only to speak and believe the Word of God. (Luke 10:19) “ I have given you authority so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.” (James 4:7-8, 10) “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.”
REAPING? (Gal. 6:7-9) “Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. A person will reap exactly what he plants. If he plants in the field of his natural desires, from it he will gather the harvest of death; if he plants in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit he will gather the harvest of eternal life. So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith.“
Your hard times could be happening because you are reaping what you have sown earlier in your life. If you have made it your life’s duty to make other people’s lives miserable, treat them poorly for no reason at all, insult, disrespect and/or abuse others physically or emotionally, those are the seeds you have sown. In due season, unbeknownst to you, you will reap the harvest of those negative seeds which in turn will come back on you. (Gal. 6:7-8) Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. A person will reap exactly what he plants. If he plants in the field of his natural desires, from it he will gather the harvest of death; if he plants in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit he will gather the harvest of eternal life.”
STUBBORNNESS? - (Jonah 1:1-4,10-12,15-17, 2:1,10) "One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai. He said, 'Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it; I am aware of how wicked its people are.' Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord. But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.... Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord. The sailors were terrified, and said to him, ' That was an awful thing to do... What should we do to you to stop the storm?" Jonah answered, ' Throw me into the sea and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm...." Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it calmed down at once. This made the sailors so afraid of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve Him. At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights... From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.... Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach and it did."
Are your hard times based on stubbornness or disobedience towards a divine assignment which you have been given but have not acted on? Whether or not you feel you’re the right person for the job or not, once God has given you the assignment, your reluctance, stubbornness or disobedience blocks God’s blessing in your life. Many times it is when you feel you are not right for the job that allows God to show up in your life to the point where everyone around you says, “God is good.”
God doesn’t punish you for not being obedient. But when you step out of God’s will for your life, its like putting up an umbrella that blocks his blessings which are continuously raining down on those who are obedient. Without the presence of his blessings, it seems that hard times abound until you get back in line with His will for your life. Living in God’s will is like riding on a smooth 5-lane freeway with occasional traffic while being out of His will is like riding on a bumpy dirt road with unexpected axle-breaking pot holes and every other kind of obstacle that can interfere with your journey.
Usually, if this is the case, you know in your heart that you are not doing something that God told you to do. The harder things go, the more that still quiet voice reminds you about what it is you have not done for the Lord. Once you realize that everyone is placed on this earth to advance His kingdom, you will quickly be able to priorities the things in your life and identify those things that have nothing to do with God or His kingdom. Your calling, whether you have discovered it or not yet, is how God will use your gift to advance His kingdom. This realization will help the Holy Ghost enable to see your true purpose in this life beyond acquiring personal things. God knows the desires of your heart. It is nothing for him to give those things to you with no trouble at all. That’s why His word says, (Matt. 6:33) “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”
So if you struggling with hard times, seemingly with no hope in sight, first take the time to analyze what you feel may be the source. When you reflect on your past and even ask the Lord to reveal to you why you are going through this struggle, I assure you, one of these four reasons or a combination of them will be your answer. When you get your answer, also remember He put us here to advance His kingdom. Some of us are more willing than others. Some of are hard-headed and need several lessons. And some of us never get it. But He’s not going to let us down unless we choose to go down the road to darkness and death.
Look at your struggle as iron sharpening iron. Or think about how much pressure is placed on a lump of coal that ends up being a priceless diamond. You are that diamond. You may already be at your diamond level or you may currently be that lump of coal under intense pressure. Just know you have value in the kingdom and soon you will realize that many of the struggles we face is the devil’s attempt to pull you away from God so that you never fulfill your divine destiny. Hold on to God’s promises.
(Gal. 6:9) “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Rom. 8:28) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Phil. 1:6) …”being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 4:13) “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:19) “My God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (1 Peter 5:7) ..”casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (2nd Cor. 5:7) “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Stay strong in the Lord.
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