Over the past weeks, I’ve heard many statements followed by it’s so hard. Each time I’ve heard it, I’ve thought of a conversation I had with my dad. It was about the difficulty of following God, and the pain of working through a tough situation.
In some context or another, I said, “I know it’s good, but it’s so hard.” He looked at me, thought for a moment, and said, “Yes. Some things that happen in life seem too hard. We daily go against a grinding, never-ending, crushing force that desires to conquer us. It’s not easy.
But nothing that’s good ever comes easy.”
And it’s true. Sometimes life is so hard, we want to curl up and die. Sometimes our hearts are torn in two, our spirits crushed, our feelings so brutally wounded they have become numb. Living for God is hard. But it’s worth it.
Because, good isn’t easy.
In II Corinthians 6:10, Paul said he was 'immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all."There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that comes into our lives that cannot become a treasured aspect of God's creative work in us. When we are in Christ, nothing diminishes us, everything enriches us. Help me, dear Lord, to embrace everything that comes today, knowing you can transform every detail for your good purposes. Amen. (Parts of this seem to me to be quoted from another writer, but even though I looked today, I couldn't figure out who!)