We Must Go Through Many Hardships

Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. 

(Acts 14:21-22, NIV)

Christians who are truly dedicated to the Lord, and surrendered to Him, find themselves engaged in a struggle that is not experienced by the immature, the lukewarm or the carnal believers. Disciples of Christ understand they live in a world that is hostile to Jesus and His Truth. They experience Christ’s heartbreak over the sinfulness of mankind and the rejection of the Lord of the universe. Unlike carnal Christians, devoted disciples are engaged in the battle for truth and, therefore, have great need for strength and encouragement. A need which carnal and immature Christians don’t understand.

After an evangelistic mission, Paul and Barnabas return to the churches at Lystra, Iconium and Antioch to strengthen and encourage the brethren to remain true to the faith. If we were to encourage each other to remain true to the faith, what would we say? “Be blessed, brother. The Lord is about to shower you with abundance.” Or, maybe we would tell each other “rebuke the devil and all these problems will go away.” Paul and Barnabas tell the churches “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” I haven’t been encouraged with those words lately, how about you?

How could that be encouraging? Well, first we realize that trouble for the Christian is just plain normal. It is not something we need seek out or hope for, but it is inevitable. Jesus instructed us to count the cost of Christianity, for “in the world you will have tribulation; but, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” We often believe that trouble is the result of something we did wrong. This could be the case. But, more often, trouble is just a normal part of life because we are hoping in the promise of redemption and the glory of God, all the while we are living in a corrupted world that is subjected to frustration and futility. We are going against the current. The world is decaying, we are being renewed. I expect everything to be heavenly, but so much reality is so worldly!

Secondly, as Christians we have an enemy who has significant power to kill, to steal and to destroy. Paul tells the Thessalonians that he had made every effort to visit them but “Satan stopped us” (I Thes. 2:18). Daniel’s answer to prayer was hindered by the “prince of Persia” for three weeks (Daniel 10:13), until Michael came and set the angel free to bring the message to Daniel. We must understand we have an enemy and we must not be “ignorant of his devices” or give him a “foothold”. The good news is that through the authority of Christ we have power to defeat and overcome our enemy!

What is the encouragement then? That we can understand what’s going on. Let’s give ourselves some grace, trouble is just normal and, no, God is not bent on punishing us! Remember Job’s friends? The righteous do suffer. Also, be encouraged that we have a worthy opponent and battles are not easily won. We have opposition! On our journey of entering the kingdom of God, realize that we must go through many hardships. It is comforting to know that this is normal! No matter what hardship you are facing, be encouraged that it is normal and, above all, “Remain True to the Faith!”