Hardship is not abandonment

Nobody loves comfort more than me. I work and save so that I won’t experience financial stress. I eat only foods I like. I seek out the most comfortable chair in a room. Why on earth, then, would my heavenly Father, who professes to love me, sometimes make me so uncomfortable?

Moses explained to the Israelites he was leading that their hardships were not a sign of abandonment by God: “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Wow! Out of love (seriously!) God actually let his children get hungry. Why? So that they would remember how much they needed him, cry out to him, experience his generosity, and love him back. Their hardships served to strengthen their relationship with their Father.

Do an audit of your hardships right now. Yes—right this minute. Yes, you. How are you being squeezed right now? How much pain (of mind and body) are you in right now? Realize that the One who didn’t hesitate to send his Son to the cross for you could not love you more and that he might be using your hardship only to draw you closer to himself.

We live by the Word that comes from his mouth. Let him speak to you today.