Allow me to begin with an account on how today went. Today is the 2011 NFL Superbowl. And the fact that I work for Domino’s Pizza means that I must work on Superbowl Sunday. We don’t get a choice. I’m sure you can imagine the intense level of stress that such a day could bring. I spent much of my time today praying and pleading that God would make today not stressful. Frankly, that He would make it easy and there wouldn’t be any issues.
Well, God came through. As Superbowl Sunday goes, our store wasn’t very busy at all. I was there for five hours and I took six deliveries. That is an incredibly low amount. After a six hour shift, I walked away with barely $20 in my pocket. There have been days in the past when I made twice that amount on just a four hour shift. Today was exactly what I asked for…it was easy.
You see, as I drove home, I was complaining to myself about making so little cash on what was supposed to be one of the busiest days for us out of the whole year. And then I realized that it was wrong for me to ask and beg that God make things easy for me, but that I would still get paid well. That was such conceited thinking on my behalf.
The Lord is teaching me something about the value of hardship. So many of us are scared to death of pain and go to great lengths to never experience unpleasant situations. I have friends who have scared themselves out of the idea of love because their heart was broken in the past. I know people who had one bad experience at a certain place one time and they haven’t gone there again since. You and I are so quick to snatch the value away from “bad” experiences. But the Scriptures teach the exact opposite.
God’s Word instructs us to take joy in our sufferings (James 1:2). This is completely backwards to how I naturally operate. I am naturally born with a desire to preserve myself. And I naturally steer away from things that I know will bring me suffering.
To be honest with you, martial arts training or not, I do not enjoy pain. I dread stress. I have learned to manage physical pain well, but mental and spiritual pains are things I am not good at tolerating. This is where the Lord is working on me.
As a Christian, trials and hardships should be the story of my life. Un-ending pain, sacrifice, heartbreak, deep suffering…these were the trials that plagued the early church. And yet I do not see a lack of growth in their numbers or their spiritual maturity. The earliest Christians grasped something that we, being modern-day Americans, have failed to truly grasp: the value behind suffering.
You see, there is absolute good involved in pain. And suffering through discomfort and even anguish reaps its own rewards. I believe that at the end of the day, Job learned this. Despite his situation, he was able to say “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
Can you and I say the same thing? I know I can’t. Instead of giving glory to God when He bring me to my knees, I pray and beg that He not bring me hard times. That is so foolish of me. Can I expect good things from the Lord and not be willing to endure the bad?
Scripture shows us that blessings and hardships are of equal value and of the same purpose (Romans 8:28). Both are meant to further the Lord’s glory in our lives. Through His blessings, we testify to His goodness. And in our suffering…we testify to His goodness. This is starting to make sense to me now. I pray often that the Lord would shine blessings on me in my workplace and that I would represent Him well in front of my coworkers. Tell me, how hard is it to be a good example and be a nice guy when everything is going well? It is really simple! And I am now realizing that I am contradicting myself by praying that I would be a light in my workplace and then beg for easy shifts that do not allow room for His light to shine!
But God knows what is best for me and sometimes…He gives me what I want so that I may see how empty it is. I’ll tell you what; an easy shift at work is empty. My pockets are usually empty when I leave at night as well. When you ask for things to be easy, your reward is thin. But when you endure much suffering, stress, and tension…your reward is full and satisfying at the end of the day.
I find myself ashamed of my desire for “easy” and will be cautious of praying for an easy shift in the future. I can testify to this fact: praying for an easy life is more deadly than suffering hardships and persecution for the sake of Christ. Hoping for a comfortable lifestyle where everything goes your way will leave you empty of passion and lacking in faith. It may be the easy road, but it is shallow in depth and lacking in its rewards.
Strive to be worthy of hardships. Attract enough attention to yourself that the Lord sees fit to have you be a vessel that shouts out His name in praise when your life is sinking like the Titanic. Through blessing or trial, may He be praised equally in the lives of His people.
