Why the Hard Stuff?

We’ve all walked through hard stuff. For me, this summer was one marked by joy and travel, which is part of why I showed up here a little less. It was also marked by challenging decisions Casey and I wrestled through–health issues, rhythms that hurt our marriage, and seeking what God’s will for us really is. It felt refining, but heavy. It felt like hard stuff. And if you’re like me, we’ve all asked God, a friend, maybe ourselves, why? Why the confusion, the isolation, or the pain? What is this all for? 

I can’t answer all these questions, but I can point out God’s character in the hard stuff. 

I’m currently reading the book of Ezekiel, and the first half of the book describes punishment after punishment for the nations’ unjust actions. Ezekiel reveals the pride, greed, and hatred that warrants the nations’ demise. While their judgement was hard to swallow, it wasn’t God’s final word for these nations. Some would die physically, some culturally, or others lose their land, but God’s discipline was for a greater, redemptive purpose:
so they would know Him and His sovereignty, maybe even for the first time.

Take Ammon: “therefore I am about to stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 25:7). 

Or Moab: “So I will execute judgments against Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord” (‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭25‬:‭11).‬

And Egypt: “When I make the land of Egypt a desolation, so that it is emptied of everything in it, when I strike down all who live there, then they will know that I am the Lord” (‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭32‬:‭15).‬ ‭

With righteous discipline came knowledge of God. What might’ve felt like the worst thing to ever happen to Moab, Ammon, or Egypt gave them a chance to know Truth, the one true God. They could see the world for what it is, temporary and fading away, and find joy in our all-powerful God.

You’re probably thinking at this point, “Are you saying my suffering is punishment for my behavior?” 

That’s a fair question, and a big question for another devotional… or book. Here’s what I will say: while sin is the cause of all the suffering and trials we face, it doesn’t mean that every trial is a direct punishment for your sin. 

But is it not true that we cling to God a little tighter when things aren’t going well? Don’t we cry out ‘I need you God!!’ a little less when everything is going our way? Don’t get me wrong–God loves to delight us. He loves our joy, our peace, and He’s promised us eternity without suffering or sin. 

He is rarely the cause of our suffering, but He reveals Himself in the midst of it. In the nations’ suffering, God chose to reveal Himself to them and to make His name, a name of justice, love, and healing, known throughout the earth. The same can be true for us. 

And what about the people that did know Him, Israel’s southern kingdom Judah? What about their suffering as they faced death, exile, and displacement like Ezekiel prophesied about? 

The promise is the same: “The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 6:7). 

“[Israel] will know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries” (Ezekiel 12:15). 

Knowing God doesn’t make the grief and suffering brought about by sin go away. It doesn’t force Judah, or us, to plaster a smile on our face because God is in control. 

Ezekiel simply shows us that God brings redemption from darkness. Instead of facing a trial that feels senseless or meaningless, God takes hard circumstances and when we’re willing, uses them to continue the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6). He shapes us into more wise, compassionate image bearers of Christ, both for our sake and the sake of the rest of the world, that they might know Him too. 

God wants us to know Him. He wants the world to see Him rightly, as our sovereign God. Pain or struggle isn’t the only way we can begin to know God, but today I’m grateful that He can use the hard parts of our lives too. Even then, we can know Him and make Him known.

Who in your life might need to hear this message today? I invite you to prayerfully consider sharing it with them.