Hard times build and equip

Every human being that has travelled through life on earth have experienced some hard times. Take a moment and imagine the impossible with me.  What if we were able to put together a gigantic poster naming all the people that have ever existed in times past and present. Alongside their names we write down all the hard times they had lived through. I wonder what that would look like. Perhaps the hard times of those that existed centuries ago would be quite different to the hard times experienced by those of us existing in today’s world. We may also find that the hard times experienced vary for each person in the degree of difficulty.  Amongst all the names on this gigantic poster we find ourselves speechless as we read about the stories filled with incredible challenges.

How did they get through that, we wonder?

With the knowledge that there are different stories of hard times and different levels of difficulty within them, we know that to each person ‘that hard time’ was indeed hard!!!

We know that because of our own hard times.

When you are going through ‘a hard time’ hearing of other people’s hard times doesn’t take away the pain you are feeling. It may help you to feel thankful that you are not going through something as difficult, yet YOU are still going through your own journey!

Would life really be that great if we didn’t experience difficulties? Naturally we don’t like hardship and challenges. You don’t usually hear people saying “Oh I can’t wait to go through that incredibly difficult trial; it is going to be so much fun”.  Of course that sounds ridiculous as hard times are not fun they are HARD.

Personally I hate hard times! They are uncomfortable, painful and often scary. BUT I know for a fact that who I am today as a person is a result of going through difficult situations in life that have matured and strengthened me. These difficult situations have helped me to understand that I have ‘no control’ over certain aspects of life or people which has taught me to let go.

In my spiritual life it has taught me to trust! To trust more in the God that I know who loves me and has my best interest at heart!

It has given me a heart for other people. From my own pain I desire to share my life with others so that I can give them comfort and hope. It has helped me to understand how a person may be feeling when they are struggling with life.

Ultimately ‘the hard times’  shift my focus off myself onto other people.

The hard times have equipped me with tools that I can use to help others. It has built perseverance to keep going when the odds are against me!

Each difficult time that I have experienced has built in me a strength that has helped me get through the next difficult time. We don’t know what the future holds or what we may have to experience in life so my perspective is that these difficulties are times of strengthening and equipping so that when the really tough season approaches I have the ability to keep going.

These hard times give us an appreciation for when life is good as it is all too easy to take life for granted when things are going great!

When we are in the middle of ‘a hard time’ it is dark and lonely. It is very hard to see where one is going or how one is going to get out of it. Those seasons may feel like forever yet they do pass.

If you are in that season right now my hope and prayer is that you keep going! You will get through this situation.

If you are not normally a spiritual type of person I would suggest for you to take a risk and pray. What is Prayer? It’s just talking from your heart to a God that really loves you.

There are countless times that I have come through situations and then found myself looking back and realising how much I have changed as a person. These changes have always been good changes, changes in perspective of other people and perhaps attitudes that needed adjusting.

Something good always comes out of the bad. We may feel buried underneath a bunch of hardship yet eventually we come out of that place and shine. Just as a seed that is planted in the ground underneath the dirt eventually sprouts into something amazing!

You are amazing, you will shine too!