When Hard Seasons Make the Gospel Shine Brighter
No one enjoys seasons of difficulty, but as long as we live in this fallen world, they will be inevitable. When hardship comes into our lives, what a comfort to remember that, in Christ, our suffering is never wasted.
Did you grow up feeling guilty for not wanting to pray for persecution and trials? If you did, you are not alone. I certainly did. Between the missionary biographies I devoured and the tender conscience of a young Christian who wanted to do what was right, I remember thinking that I really should be praying for more persecution!
After all, didn’t many churches grow in the middle of trials? If I wanted others to come to Christ, shouldn’t I be willing to pray for my own possible imprisonment? Even if imprisonment was unlikely in my country, shouldn’t I at least pray for some physical condition so severe that others would be drawn to Christ through my testimony?
I will never forget the extreme relief I felt in college when a professor offhandedly remarked that, as Christians, we should not feel obligated to pray for tests and trials. Life is already full of them! Nowhere in Scripture are we told to ask for bad things. In fact, quite the opposite. Scripture models praying for health (3 Jn. 1:2), daily needs (Matt. 6:11), and even the peace and stability of the place where we live (Jer. 29:7).
Do We Need to Pray for Trials?
However, while I no longer believe we need to pray for additional trials, there is no denying that our responses to the trials we face can produce incredible fruit. The Apostle Paul recognized this repeatedly when he described the hardships he endured. His imprisonment not only allowed him to witness to the imperial guard but also gave others the courage to preach the Word boldly. Paul saw that the eternal reward far outweighed the temporary suffering.
In a small way, I have seen this truth lived out in the life of my husband. When Jeremy was 23 years old, he was focused on becoming a missionary. Those plans abruptly came to a halt when he was diagnosed with cancer. What followed was surgery, chemotherapy, and a year of intense depression, likely brought on by the medication he received. Many around him wondered why a young man who desired to serve God would experience such a devastating blow.
While I was not in Jeremy’s life at the time he went through his cancer journey, it has been an incredible privilege to watch how the Lord has used his story to reach others. Beyond the personal refinement suffering brings, God truly does use our pain to reach the world around us.
I have seen hearts soften and walls come down when people realize that the preacher standing before them has walked through deep waters. They see that God’s grace truly is sufficient. They begin to believe that there really is a reason to place their faith and trust in Him.
What Hard Seasons Actually Produce
We all walk through difficult seasons, though not all seasons look the same. Perhaps today finds you in a place you never imagined you would be. A season of struggle that truly seems more than you can handle. If that resonates with you, let me remind you of a few truths.
- Whom God loves, He disciplines (Hebrews 12:6).
Though it may not sound comforting at first, difficult seasons are often one of the ways God shapes and refines His children. I recently listened to the story of Darlene Deibler, a missionary who spent years in a Japanese prison camp. Rather than speaking with any pride about her suffering, she described how persecution exposed her own heart. It led her to ask, “Can I say I believe that God means what He says when everything around me seems to contradict it?” Sometimes the very difficulty we resist is the loving hand of God drawing us closer to Himself.
- Hard seasons can cause us to pray more fervently.
Most days, we already have more to pray for than we have time. Yet nothing drives us to our knees like helplessness. When we first moved to Honduras as missionaries, every service brought a wave of panic to my heart. Teaching children in my second language caused me to plead with God for help in a way I had never done before. In recent days, I have asked God to restore that same desperation. It is easier to recognize our need for Him when we feel our weakness so clearly.
- Hard seasons make the gospel shine brighter.
Whether it is peace in pain, joy in sorrow, or love when we ourselves are hurting, God uses suffering to display His glory. A watching world does not expect hope from someone walking through hardship. When they see steady faith instead of bitterness, confidence instead of despair, and gratitude instead of resentment, the gospel becomes visible.
We do not need to pray for suffering in order for God to use us. He is fully capable of allowing what is necessary to shape us and magnify Himself. But when trials come, and they will, we can trust that He wastes nothing. Our pain may be the very canvas on which He chooses to paint His faithfulness.
And sometimes, it is in the darkest seasons that the light of Christ shines the clearest.
