Sometimes, Life Sucks

—Stephen Carradini

[The following is a guest post by Chris’ longtime friend, Stephen Carradini. If you enjoy the post, drop by his author page to check out his bio and some of his other writing. Stephen will probably be a semi-regular voice on Pillar on the days ahead, so make sure you give him a warm reception in the comments.]

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Perseverance has been on my mind often as of late. It’s been a miserable 2010, on top of a difficult three years. How do I persevere as a Christian when it’s hard to remember the last time I was pleased with the conditions and sentiments of my life?

The verse that I have been clinging to —and confounded by — is an old standby:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance
(James 1:2-3)

How, exactly, do we count trials as joy? Even David, the man after God’s own heart, seems to be terrible at this:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
   Why are you so far from saving me,
   so far from the words of my groaning?
(Psalm 22:1)

And if that wasn’t enough:

I am poured out like water,
   and all my bones are out of joint.
   My heart has turned to wax;
   it has melted away within me.
(Psalm 22:14)

These are not upbeat words. I sense neither happiness nor joy—seriously: he wrote, “I am a worm and not a man.” In verse 22, though, there is a shocking shift; he (almost irrationally) says “I will praise you.” He then proceeds, for nine verses, to praise God for stuff that hasn’t happened yet!

This is easily one of the most mind-boggling things I’ve ever encountered. David’s trust in God is so deep that in spite of his immediately prior complaints about God not saving him, he throws out nine verses on the power of God. That trust is the joy of the Lord that we seek. Where on earth does this trust come from?

The answer is “no earthly source.” It comes purely from the Holy Spirit. That elusive joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and thus can only truly come from his working in us.

I know from experience that the desperate immediately will follow with this question: “How do we make the Spirit work in us?”

We can’t.

We can make ourselves available to the Spirit’s work, but we can’t force God to do anything. You and I are mere men. As often as we hear “read the Bible and pray” as an answer, it is truly one of the primary ways the Holy Spirit works in us. However, we must also persevere, not setting aside the good that we do in faith because of our anger or disappointment with God.

This does make a circle: to best persevere, we must have the joy that comes from the working of the Spirit in us, which comes as we persevere. On one hand, it is intuitive: God is pleased when we put one foot in front of the other because of his call on our lives, and thus he will give us strength to make it through the tough times. On the other hand, it seems like a trick: just keep going and eventually He’ll make it better for you.

Which side I fall on depends entirely on which day it is—but I rejoice in this: the same David who wrote Psalm 22 also wrote Psalm 34:

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles,
   but the LORD delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
   not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked;
   the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems his servants;
   no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
(vv. 18-22)

Trusting in God, even in the face of brutal circumstances, directly produces joy. Sometimes it seems counterintuitive to trust in God especially when he hasn’t shown up so far in your trial (or so it seems). But whether you see him, feel him or understand him does not change his power; you can always trust in his power to save, and that trust will produce joy.

How has suffering impacted your life? Do you struggle to reconcile the difficulties of life with God’s goodness? Leave your thoughts below.