From my experience and study of
God’s Word, it has become very apparent to me that hard times are no respecter
of persons. Every individual and every
family will, at some point, experience the hard times of life.
Remember when Cain slew his
brother, Abel? They were the sons of
Adam and Eve. Can you imagine the agony
they must have felt to have one son slain by another son– all because of the
sin they had committed? This must have
been extremely hard on them.
Joseph also knew something about
hard times. He was hated by his
brothers, sold into slavery, lied about by Potiphar’s wife, and cast into
prison – sounds pretty trying to me! And
what about David? He was pursued by King
Saul, betrayed by Absalom, and fought off a deadly disease (Psalm 32). Then there was
Hezekiah who destroyed all the false gods. You know there were many in
Now, one cannot talk about hard
times without thinking of Job. He lost
all of his possessions; his sons all died; he was smitten with boils; and his
friends berated him for being out of God’s will (which he wasn’t). I would certainly call that hard times.
Time and space will not allow us
to talk about Paul’s hard times, but notice II Corinthians 11:23-27, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more
abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths
oft. Of the Jews five times received I
forty stripes save one. Thrice was I
beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a
day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen,
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
✞ Stay close to God.
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