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Preparing for Hardship

by Rob

There is an effective biblical strategy to help us prepare for suffering and enduring hardship of any kind. That strategy is not based on a bank account or financial investments. For, “whoever trusts in his riches will fall.” (Proverbs 11:28) Instead, this strategy helps us guard against materialism, greed, anxiety and lack of contentment, replacing them with bottomless joy.

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. – James 1:2, NLT

This strategy is to fully rely on the all-sufficiency of God. David expressed this reliance on God when he wrote, “The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need.” (Psalm 23:1, NLT) And the Apostle Paul reveals dependence on God and his strength as the secret to contentment regardless of the circumstances (Philippians 4:12-13). This dependent trust in God’s sufficiency is what Jesus refers to when he urges us:

So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. (Matthew 6:25-27, NLT)

He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone. – C.S. Lewis

Actually, this strategy for joy-filled living in any and every circumstance brings us full circle back to the truths we spoke about in week one of Uncommon Cents. There, we talked about prizing Christ above all else. When we are truly and completely satisfied in him, then we recognize we have all we need. Loss of property, wealth, or stuff no longer devastates us, because we have him.

At the writing of this, friends of mine experienced a tremendous loss as their lodge burned down. Their financial loss exceeds three-quarters of a million dollars in property alone, plus the unknown possibility of future lost revenue and the costs of rebuilding. Due to its remote location, the lodge was uninsurable. The emotional loss of meaningful personal items to my friends is incalculable. How are they holding up?

These friends of mine are embracing the reality of the all-sufficiency of God. He is their anchor. He is their source of joy and everything else they need. Their response is one of genuine grief over their loss, but thankfulness toward God that no one was hurt and gratitude that they are not slaves of their circumstances or of their possessions. My friends are experiencing the secret of contentment in any and every circumstance, because their enjoyment and satisfaction are grounded in the unchangeable God, not in things.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9)

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