Handle Hard Better

One

Change is Scary

It can be very scary to go through difficulties, trials, sickness, and suffering. It is difficult to go through really hard things. But maybe the hardest thing is when something hard happens that you didn’t expect and it totally changes your life. Then we panic and say, “Wait, this is not what I planned.” 

Then a few things happen, we become consumed with getting out of the situation and we experience anxiety that is manifested in all kinds of psychological ways. You may even experience all kinds of physical problems because the brain tries to hide the fear and put it into the body. So, the question: when your life becomes hard, what do you do?

Two

Joseph from the Old Testament is the best example. 

Joseph faced really hard things. Joseph was kidnapped by his brothers, sold as a slave in Egypt, then falsely accused of assault and thrown in prison. I bet that wasn’t his plan for his life. But we are told, “And there in jail he stayed - But God was with Joseph.” (Genesis 39: 21) Joseph grew in trust, in hope, and in the love of God. He became a better person through it. 

Then Pharaoh’s Cup-bearer and Baker were tossed in Prison with him. The Cupbearer and the Baker both had dreams which Joseph interpreted, the Cupbearer will be released and the Baker, well he will lose his head. To the Cup-Bearer Joseph says, “Remember me when all is well with you.” However, two more years pass and the Cupbearer has forgotten Joseph. Now it’s been more than thirteen years since he was sold into slavery. 

Then Pharaoh has a dream: seven fat and seven skinny cows. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams correctly and Pharaoh releases him from prison and elevates him to second in command in Egypt. Once the seven years of plenty come to an end, famine strikes the whole Middle East. Then Joseph’s brothers come from Israel to Egypt to buy grain. Though they do not recognize him, Joseph recognizes the brothers who did him evil. He reveals himself to them and they fear Joseph will take revenge. But Joseph answered them, “It was not you who sent me here, but God…You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” 

Joseph realized that God allowed all these hard things in his life for two reasons: to make Joseph into a magnificent human being for all eternity and to save thousands and thousands of people. 

Three

Don’t wait for life to get easier – it won’t 

I was struck by a short talk by Kara Lawson, the coach of the Duke women’s basketball team. She said we all wait in life for things to get easier. Have there been times when you have been stressed and anxious because things are hard, and you can’t wait for them to get easier? “I just gotta get through this and then it will be easier…”

Most people think it’s going to get easier, life will get easier. It will never get easier. Don’t wait for things to get easier. Instead, become someone who handles hard stuff better. 

That is the shift we all have to make in our thinking because if we wait until life gets easier then we will be consumed with fear, anxiety, pain, and resentment, asking, “Oh why is my life so hard, why is life so easy for other people?” Eventually, we will give up. 

And as soon as God sees you handle hard better, He will make it harder. Not because He is an evil genius who gets pleasure in watching suffer. He is the perfect Father who knows what you need to grow and what you can handle. He is bound and determined to keep throwing at you everything that will make you amazing! Because you are His kid and He is preparing you for when you leave Earth so you can live in Heaven, so you can live at a supernatural level. 

That is what God did for Joseph and that is what God will do for you.

Four

The next stage is not easier

At whatever age you are, we tend to think the next stage will get easier. But talk to anyone who is older, and they will tell you it doesn’t get easier, it gets harder. So become someone who handles hard well. Not someone who is waiting for life to get easier. 

If you have a meaningful pursuit in life, it will never be easy. Whether you are trying to win a championship, raise a family, succeed in a business, or endure patiently in a chronic illness, success in all these goes to the people who handle hard well. People who wait around for easy, you’ll probably see them at the bus stop waiting for the easy bus to come around. But the easy bus never comes around. 

So don’t become afraid or anxious or discouraged if this moment of your life is hard. Don’t be afraid or discouraged. Life is supposed to be hard because hard is what brings growth. 

So, make yourself someone who handles hard well and then whatever comes at you, you’re going to be great. 

Five

Rely on Providence

When life gets hard, don’t forget, you are not alone. God did not abandon Joseph when his life got harder. 

There is a refrain from the story of Joseph in Genesis. Every time things got harder for Joseph, immediately we are told, “The Lord was with Joseph.” God was with Joseph, guiding everything that happened for the greatest good.

Nothing can happen to you unless God wills or allows it. And God can only allow things that will be for your greatest good and the greatest good of all your loved ones. That is the lesson of Joseph in the Old Testament. 

God is with you. He is the one allowing things to be harder so He can make you into someone magnificent. Trust Him, rely on Him. With God as your Father, no matter what happens, you are safe. So, handle hard better!