The Hardest Thing

The hardest thing probably isn’t the hardest thing.

Life and ministry are full of pain. You will experience betrayal, setbacks, hardship, and disappointment. It’s inevitable. We live in a fallen world.

I have a theory that these setbacks and difficulties aren’t the hardest thing. The hardest thing is the thought that our suffering doesn’t have a purpose.

Suffering becomes a lot easier when we know that the suffering has a purpose.

I’ve been thinking recently about the apostle Paul. If anyone knew about suffering, he did. In 2 Corinthians he outlines his sufferings in detail. But Paul knows something that makes all the difference: his suffering has purpose.

It’s why Paul says, “We do not lose heart…So we are always of good courage.” Paul doesn’t run from the pain. Instead, he runs to the purpose.

We’ll never be able to outrun the pain. As we run to God, though, we discover that he is accomplishing his purposes in our suffering. It doesn’t take away the pain, but it sure makes a difference.