How to Face Hardships

Often, as we walk through the wilderness of this life, we encounter hardship. Maybe you have noticed this. There are occasionally things about our lives which we do not like. Sometimes they are small, like unexpected moldy bread. Sometimes they are bigger, like the transmission on your car going out. And sometimes they are world-shattering, like the death of a child or a friend, a cancer diagnosis, a betrayal. And sometimes they are not events, but long, slow realities: Chronic pain, singleness, infertility that goes on year after year, and so on.

What do you do when things are lousy?

The Catechism, summarizing scripture, says that "The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, whereby for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." In other words, all things come from the hand of God and are purposed by him for his own glory. This can repel you or it can comfort you.

You could hear that and say, "A God who would do or allow that is not worth my obedience. I'm not on that God's team." But this is like jettisoning yourself from the spaceship because you don't like astronaut food. There is nowhere else to go. You are made by God, and He is your life. To turn your back on Him is to walk out into the snowy wilderness naked and alone. Thinking that you could pass judgement on God's choices is an inherently pagan move. It is tacitly assuming that God is just a bigger version of you, like your boss, and you could change companies or write a negative review of his management style. But that's not it at all. The God we confess in the creed is not one option among many, he is light and air and food and drink. The only other option is the void.

So, the only Christian response to suffering, to hard providences, is to dive deeper into the love of God. To recognize in the pain and discomfort the kindness of God calling you to himself. All the delights and comforts of this world are gifts from Him, but their power to bring you joy is derivative, it is from God. And by faith you can know the joy of his presence and favor more deeply in suffering than you did in plenty.