Happy Times And Hard Times

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Sometimes, we have  happy times – and sometimes we have hard times. What are we to do when the going gets tough? We’ve heard the saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It sounds good, doesn’t it – but what if we find that we’re not so tough, and we can’t get going? What are we to do then? When life is hard, we can feel unloved – and we can feel lonely. These are the times when we need to be reminded that God loves us – and that He keeps on loving us, even when we don’t feel very near to Him. As we travel through life, we have no guarantee that it will be plain sailing – but we do have God’s promise: He will give us the strength that we need – “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). In ourselves, we are weak. In the Lord, we are strong. When it all seems to be getting too much for us, He says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We’re not to pretend that we’re stronger than we really are. We’re to come to the Lord in our weakness. We’re to come to Him, and receive His strength. When we’re going through the mill, we need to remember Jesus. He suffered for us. He was crucified for us. He died for us. Jesus understands us. He’s been in the place of great suffering – and it didn’t get the better of Him: He rose from the dead! When we’re down, Jesus can raise us up – “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

When hard times come our way, we may find ourselves, drowning in a sea of self-pity. When this happens to us, what does God do about it?  He gives us His Word of encouragement: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2). When we find it so hard to keep our head above water, God says, ” I will be with you.” We may still be “passing through the waters” (going through a hard time), but we will know that we’re not alone. He is with us. Now and always – He is with us. Today and every day – He is with us. Forever – we will be with Him.

When the going gets tough, let’s take our problems to the Lord. He’s greater than all our problems. He’s the great God. His love is the greatest love of all. When the going gets tough, we may stop loving Him, but He will never stop loving us. Through thick and thin, He keeps on loving us – in the happt times, in the hard times.