Are you going through a hard time? This question may sound
absurd to my Nigerian brothers at this moment, but let’s look beyond the
present economic conundrum. I’m talking about real and lasting hard times. Maybe you recently lost your job, or you're
dealing with a death in your family. Or maybe you're just not sure anything
good in life can happen to you. Whatever you're dealing with, I want you to
know that you're not alone and something good can come from the tough spot
you're in right now. God promised.
Jesus experienced hard times too…the road to the cross was no small matter. But He had to decide to go through it. He even asked God if it was really necessary. (But we know how this amazing love story ended.)
Just like Jesus had to make a choice, you and I also have to
decide to go through hard times.
Is Good Friday Really Good?
Ever wonder why we refer to the day of Jesus' death as
"Good" Friday, since it's a day that involved so much pain, agony and
heartache? Well, it's because the result of this particular Friday—Christ's
resurrection from the dead on Sunday—was good.
In our daily lives, we need to believe that when we go
through hard times, the result will be good. But when we're hurting, probably
one of the most challenging things for us to remember is that God is going to
work it out for our good.
The Only One You Can Trust
Now this doesn't mean the trials are necessarily good, but
God can work them out for our good because He is awesome. You have to be some
kind of awesome God to be able to take bad things and turn them around for
good!
If we love God and really want His will for our life, I
think it's safe to say that we can trust Him to bring good from it—no matter
what happens to us. Even if we have to take detours because of our own
stupidity or if we're innocent but someone else gets involved and brings hurt
and pain into our life, we can trust God to work it out. I like to say,
"No person on earth and no devil in hell can keep me from God's
will."
The Crucifixion: Growing in Hard Times
It's comforting to really believe things will work out
okay…even on a day like Good Friday, with so much suffering and pain. When
nothing made sense and everything was hard, God worked it out for good—bringing
the greatest blessing mankind will ever receive!
We can believe Friday was good because of the result it
brought, not because of what happened at the time.
But we only seem to really grow during hard times. I think
it's because it's during those times that we really press into God and go to a
deeper level in our relationship with Him. Why? Because we have to. It's our
only choice if we want to make it through the difficulty. When we trust God, He
gives us the comfort of knowing that He can work bad things out for our
good.
Two Sides of the Cross
There are usually two sides to everything. The cross has
two: a crucifixion side and a resurrection side. And Jesus had to endure one
side to get to the other. But if He hadn't endured, then we'd all still be left
without a Saviour and no forgiveness of our sins.
Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, for the joy of
obtaining the prize on the other side of the cross—the resurrection—endured the
pain. Like Jesus, we have to endure bad things. To endure means to outlast the
devil; to be steadfast long enough to let the trial do whatever it's going to
do in our lives and get from one side of the cross to the other.
The Grave: Waiting for a Good Ending
Now, we don't just go from Friday to Sunday. We have to
learn to endure Saturday, which I think is sometimes the hardest to do. We'll
call it the middle. In everything, there's a beginning, an end, and a middle.
The beginning is sometimes a little bit exciting because it's a new thing. And
the end is certainly exciting because it's where we experience the victory.
But, oh…that middle! The Saturdays may be even harder than the Fridays because
on Saturday, we're in the grave and we're not sure what's going to happen next.
Most of the time, we don't know how long the middle's going
to last, and although God knows…He's not telling. (Isn't He great at keeping
secrets?) So we need to remember that when we're going through the middle of
something, we can be assured Sunday always comes after Friday. But we have to
endure Saturday—we have to outlast the devil, remain steadfast and not give up or quit. When
we do, we will enjoy the resurrection benefits and blessings that come on
Sunday.
The Resurrection: Making It Through
So, I want you to remember that Jesus endured the cross
because He knew what was waiting on the other side of it. In our daily lives,
we are going to have to endure some things, and we're going to face some hard
times. But the only way to do it is to go through it.
Whether we're hit by an unexpected circumstance, suffering
for doing something wrong or for resisting temptation and sin by doing what's
right, we have to go through things. But waiting for you on the other side of
the hard times is the joy of obtaining the prize—the good result.