There was a season in my life when I faced a lot of hardship. It really felt like the peak of a wilderness season (a season of dryness and pain) in my life. Everything seemed not to be going well for me at that point no matter how hard I tried to fix things. During that season, I went out during the day, tried to fix things but they never seemed to change. So I returned home in the evening, locked myself in the room and cried. Tears rolled down my eyes as I lay to sleep. I always hoped for the day when that season of hardship will end. I got to a point when it seemed like I could not handle the stress again and this began affecting my character as I started becoming bitter; jealous of others; impatient and all these usually made me to be depressed.
One faithful day, a sister called me and told me that God desires that I should praise and worship Him always and even during this season of my life when things seemed so hard. It was okay to cry during those hard times but I noticed there was much more I could do. So I yielded to what the sister had told me. During that season of so much pain, besides praying and studying the word of God, I learned about thanksgiving, praise and worship of God for Who He is, What He has done and What he will do. I became intentional about having a quiet time daily. So in the early hours of the morning before stepping out to work or any other daily activities, I just closed my room, sing songs of praise and worship to God, prayed and spent time studying the word of God.
After a while, I noticed the hardship was not gone but my approach to it had changed. Instead, I began noticing how the hardship during that season had spurred me to draw closer to God as I had learned to spend more time in praise, praying and meditating on the word of God and this helped in fortifying my faith in God. Praising God in songs was something I started doing during my quiet time. I will sing songs of praise and dance while worshiping God and the joy of the Lord was overwhelming. Reading the word of God helped me to begin understanding Who the ALMIGHTY God is and I learned to trust in the ALL KNOWING GOD who knows everything I go through and is always there by me. Fellowshipping with the Spirit of God and and making efforts to practice what I was learning from the word of God was helping in refining my character. Many months passed by and I noticed I had not cried. At some point, I noticed that despite the hardship I was going through I started experiencing a kind of peace which I cannot explain and was not depressed as before and this was amazing to me. There was really so much I learned during those hard times which keeps impacting my life.
I read the story of the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt. God’s will was to liberate them but Pharaoh (who was ruler in Egypt) was hardened and won’t let the Israelites go. So God sent Moses with a message to Pharaoh to liberate the Israelites. Exodus 7:16 says: “..Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.” It is amazing to know that God had promised the Israelites to liberate them from Egypt and take them to the promised land – Canaan. Yet, the Israelites had to go through the wilderness and while in the wilderness, they had to worship God. The wilderness was not the final destination for the Israelites but rather, it was just part of the journey to the promised land.
Someone reading this may be in a season in your life which is characterized by hardship and pain. Do you know your season of hardship may be part of the plan to getting to your promised land? If you were aware of this, what will be your approach to the season of hardship? As read in Exodus 7:16, it is God’s will that we worship Him in every season including the seasons of hardship.
The season of hardship is not an easy one at all. Everyone has such seasons of pain in life but the difference comes in how each person approaches this season.The season of hardship can either break or build you. If well approached, experiences during the period of hardship will help to build you but if not well approached, it can break you.
How then can we approach our seasons of pain? Hear what Jesus Christ says in John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” So, the Ultimate approach to overcoming hardship of this world is surrendering to Jesus Christ who has already overcome the hardship of the world. In every moment and even in times of pain, we should learn to approach God like David in Psalms 100 which says;
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
It is God’s desire that we should always come into His presence with thanksgiving and praise. Let your hardship not turm you away from God but instead draw you closer to Him. In every season including the seasons of hardship let us go to God in Praise and Thanksgiving for his love and faithfulness is forever.
God bless you