Why does Life have to be so Difficult?
A young lady I led to Christ several years ago attends the church I pastor. On a number of occasions she has told me about a difficult situation in her life and punctuated the conversation with, “Why does life have to be so difficult?” I have found myself borrowing her expression when describing my difficult days to my wife.
I take comfort in the fact that Job felt the same way. He said. “Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7) and “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14: 1). As someone has said, “Life is filled with trouble and then we die.” Life is filled with problems. Why?
From a Biblical point of view, there are a number of reasons, one of which is that “tribulation produces perseverance” (Rom. 5:3). The Greek word translated “tribulations” means “pressure” and is used figuratively of distress, affliction, physical hardship and sufferings. The Greek word rendered “perseverance” means “endurance.” Does tribulation always produce endurance? Obviously not. Tribulation produces endurance when, “it is met by faith in God which receives it as God’s fatherly discipline” (Cranfield; Jas. 1:2, 3, says that the approved part of faith produces endurance).
From a practical perspective, if life were easy and not difficult, we would never mature. People born with a silver spoon in their mouth grow up thinking that others are to serve them and they don’t have to serve others. Some people are born on third base and they think they hit a triple. A lady told me years ago she was a cashier in a market when scanners first began to be used. In her words, “I could process groceries must faster using a scanner than I could punching in each item with my figures.” Then, she added, “The faster the process, the more impatient people became.” Isn’t that true of all of us! The easier life becomes the more impatient we become.
On the other hand, I recently talked to a man whom I had not seen in several years. He struck me as much more calm and patient than I remembered. After he told me what he had been through, I understood why. In his case, tribulation had worked.
Well, if problems and pressure, trouble and tribulation are for my benefit, instead of griping, maybe I should be grateful. In fact, the full text of what Paul said is, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance” (Rom. 5:3). The word translated “glory” in verse 3 is the same Greek word translated “rejoice” in verse 2. We can rejoice, glory, boast, and be jubilant in future hope (Rom. 5:2) and in present troubles (Rom. 5:3), because tribulation benefits believers.
The young lady who rhetorically asked, “Why is life so difficult?” answers her own question by saying, “I know, ‘Trials are for your training,’” quoting a line she heard me use in a sermon. Some days, I have to remind myself to listen to my own sermons.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 8/14/2002
I take comfort in the fact that Job felt the same way. He said. “Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7) and “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14: 1). As someone has said, “Life is filled with trouble and then we die.” Life is filled with problems. Why?
From a Biblical point of view, there are a number of reasons, one of which is that “tribulation produces perseverance” (Rom. 5:3). The Greek word translated “tribulations” means “pressure” and is used figuratively of distress, affliction, physical hardship and sufferings. The Greek word rendered “perseverance” means “endurance.” Does tribulation always produce endurance? Obviously not. Tribulation produces endurance when, “it is met by faith in God which receives it as God’s fatherly discipline” (Cranfield; Jas. 1:2, 3, says that the approved part of faith produces endurance).
From a practical perspective, if life were easy and not difficult, we would never mature. People born with a silver spoon in their mouth grow up thinking that others are to serve them and they don’t have to serve others. Some people are born on third base and they think they hit a triple. A lady told me years ago she was a cashier in a market when scanners first began to be used. In her words, “I could process groceries must faster using a scanner than I could punching in each item with my figures.” Then, she added, “The faster the process, the more impatient people became.” Isn’t that true of all of us! The easier life becomes the more impatient we become.
On the other hand, I recently talked to a man whom I had not seen in several years. He struck me as much more calm and patient than I remembered. After he told me what he had been through, I understood why. In his case, tribulation had worked.
Well, if problems and pressure, trouble and tribulation are for my benefit, instead of griping, maybe I should be grateful. In fact, the full text of what Paul said is, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance” (Rom. 5:3). The word translated “glory” in verse 3 is the same Greek word translated “rejoice” in verse 2. We can rejoice, glory, boast, and be jubilant in future hope (Rom. 5:2) and in present troubles (Rom. 5:3), because tribulation benefits believers.
The young lady who rhetorically asked, “Why is life so difficult?” answers her own question by saying, “I know, ‘Trials are for your training,’” quoting a line she heard me use in a sermon. Some days, I have to remind myself to listen to my own sermons.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 8/14/2002
