Hard Times Are Fruitful Times

I've given my testimony a few times. By testimony, I don't mean the safe, short version of how God has been at work in my life. I mean a detailed accounting of all of my life, including the parts that have been hardest. Every time I give this more detailed testimony, I'm humbled by the different seasons of suffering that I've been through.

I don't think I'm alone. I think if all of us gave the full account of our lives, it would include many seasons of suffering.

And yet, here's what I observe as I look back at my life: The hardest times are the most fruitful times. Let me give you a few examples.

When I was young, my parents went through a separation and later a divorce. This was long before divorces became common in our society. Our family struggled. During that crisis, I saw the beauty of the gospel in my mother's life despite the difficulties. I also discovered the beauty of a local church and how they cared for a family in need.

Much later, I was in a difficult ministry for a long time. There were a lot of reasons. Some of the fault was mine. It helped me identify sinful areas in my life, strengthened my theological beliefs, and improved my understanding of my fit in ministry. Out of that experience, God led me into church planting. I’m not sure I would have ever considered church planting without the disruption of a particularly difficult season of ministry. It brought one of my sweetest ministry seasons, despite the challenges.

In the early days of church planting, we went through a significant personal crisis. The crisis helped my wife and me learn to pray together, something I had struggled with throughout our marriage. It's a practice that we continue to this day. The deep personal crisis taught us to rely on God and strengthened our marriage as we learned to endure challenges together.

Likewise, the experience of church planting was both intensely hard and incredibly joyful. It's some of the hardest ministry we've done. And yet, it was also the most rewarding ministry we've done in many ways. It brought us great joy to sacrifice. As we worried if the church plant would succeed, we learned to trust God for his provision, to move out in faith, and expect God to act. And yet, out of these sacrifices, God brought us so much joy in ministry.

I don't think the hard times are over. I'm expecting more, and that's okay, because God will continue his work in our lives.

Here's what I've found: our hardest times have been our most fruitful times. I wouldn't want to go through all these periods of suffering again, and yet I'm grateful for them. It gives me confidence for the future, knowing that when things are hard, God is at work. He's working out his good purposes in our lives, even in the times that are hardest in our lives.