Why Do Christians Experience Hard Times and Suffering?

Vivid Christianity
Teaching Christians how to live a "vivid" Christian life.

by Dave Root, VividChristianity.com, last modified on 10/07/2024.

Introduction

One of the most important things to know and understand about the Christian life is that we will all go through seasons of testing in order to bring us to maturity.

These seasons are painful and frustrating and confusing and frightening at times. They're intended to stretch our faith and our patience, and they will make us wonder if God loves us, and sometimes they will even make us wonder if God is really out there somewhere.

I've been through several of these seasons. The first one was frustrating, but it didn't last very long. The second one lasted eighteen years and was painful and uncomfortable at times, but it was not as severe as some of the seasons that I've heard other people have gone through. Then again, it lasted roughly three times longer than those other people's seasons, so perhaps there's a correlation there. The third season ended in 2019 and lasted seven months, and there were several moments when I was more scared than I've ever been in my life. Now (in 2023) I'm in a new season, far and away the most difficult one yet, although I can't pinpoint when it started.

If you're going through a testing season, or a wilderness season, or a dry season, or a valley season, or a night season, or the dark night of the spirit (or soul), or whatever you choose to call it, trust the Lord and know that there's a purpose for it.

All living things (plants, animals, people, and other creatures) need to go through struggles in order to grow stronger and become more mature. This is why we have expressions such as:

No pain, no gain.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
It's always darkest just before the dawn.

When you're experiencing painful, frustrating, confusing, or frightening events in your life, keep in mind that God has not forgotten about you or abandoned you. He's either molding you (as a potter molds the clay) in order to strengthen and prepare you to be a useful vessel in His hands, or else He's disciplining you (which is explained in my article called Cheat Sheet #11). In order to determine if you're being disciplined by God, and the reason for it, and how to make it stop, it's important to know how to discern His guidance within you (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

If everything at my website (VividChristianity.com), including this article, says what God wants it to say then He will confirm that for you by doing a miracle. See my home page for the details.

The Potter and the Clay

The Bible sometimes describes God as a potter, and we are the clay:

"Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'?" (Isaiah 45:9)

"Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8)

"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."" (Jeremiah 18:1-6)

"But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (Romans 9:20-21)

The pottery-making process has several steps (according to various pottery websites), so let's examine these steps and imagine them from the clay's perspective:

First, the potter prepares the lump of clay by slamming it onto a hard surface and then using pressure to fold and knead the clay over and over (the usual recommendation is 20 to 50 times). This makes the clay more pliable, and removes air bubbles, and removes any hard spots. Air bubbles can be dangerous because they expand during the heating process and cause the clay vessel to crack or shatter.

It's easy to imagine that during this step the clay is crying out to be delivered from its suffering. Yet the Master Potter has a purpose for applying this squeezing pressure to the clay, and this step is essential in order to prepare the clay for fulfilling its proper destiny.
Then the potter smacks the clay onto the center of the pottery wheel and gets it all wet and spins it round and round while using pressure to compress and smooth the clay into a short flat cylinder. As the clay is spinning, the potter begins stretching the clay upward to the desired height, forming it into a vessel according to the potter's plans.

Now the clay feels like its life is spinning out of control, and it doesn't understand the changes that are taking place. It's all wet and under pressure and being stretched out of its comfortable shape. But notice that the clay is always in the loving hands of the Master Potter. These things, as uncomfortable as they are for the clay, are absolutely necessary in order for the clay to fulfill the role that the Master Potter has in mind for it.
Next the potter uses a trimming tool to remove excess from the clay vessel, and lifts it off of the wheel and places it on a shelf to dry slowly and evenly and completely.

The clay might be crying out, upset about the things that are being removed from its life and asking why the Master Potter is leaving it sitting on a shelf rather than putting it to use. Does that sound familiar? Do you ever feel like you're sitting on a shelf, confused, and wondering why God isn't putting you to use for His glory? The Master Potter keeps his eye on the clay vessel while it's on the shelf, watching until it's dry. He hasn't forgotten it! Sitting on a shelf to dry is a crucial part of the process, otherwise the clay vessel might explode during the next step.

When you find yourself feeling as if God is wasting time because He's not putting you to use in some type of ministry, think of a Master Chess Player. He might move a piece to the side of the board, out of the way, early in the game. That piece might sit there throughout most of the game, eager to be put to use and confused about why it's being ignored. But near the end of the game, that piece is in a perfect position for the Master Chess Player to use for the winning move. When you feel as if God is keeping you in limbo, it's because He knows the perfect timing for moving you into the new thing that He has planned for you. Be patient and trust in His timing.
After all of the water has dried from the vessel, it goes into a kiln where the temperature is slowly raised to around 1,730 degrees Fahrenheit. This transforms the weak clay into a strong and durable glass-like substance. If there had been any moisture in the clay then the rapid expansion of the steam would blow up the vessel, which is why the clay needed to sit on a shelf until it was completely dry. When the desired temperature is reached, the kiln is turned off and the vessel must sit there until it has completely cooled off.

Now the clay vessel is really screaming! Everything seems to have gone from bad to worse, and the clay doesn't understand why it's in the fire. No matter how much it prays for relief, and no matter how much it rebukes the devil, and no matter how much it repents of every sin it can think of, it's still in the fire. But the Master Potter isn't mad at the clay vessel, and the Master Potter isn't punishing the clay vessel, and the Master Potter hasn't forgotten the clay vessel. The fire is essential in order for the clay vessel to be strengthened so it can fulfill the tasks that the Master Potter has planned for it. Eventually, the fire is removed. What a relief! But then the clay vessel must sit around in limbo again until it cools off.
When it has cooled off enough, a ceramic glaze is applied to it for decoration and waterproofing. Then it needs to dry and go back into the kiln again, then sit around cooling off again.

This was a painful and confusing and frightening season for the clay, but the finished product is a beautiful vessel that's fit and ready for the Master Potter to put to use for His glory.

Again, God describes Himself in the Bible as a potter, and He says that we are the clay. In order for us to become useful vessels, He has to take us through difficult seasons of being molded and strengthened and refined and purified and tested. In the above descriptions of the clay's experience, it was a form of spiritual battle between its feelings and confusion vs trusting in the Master Potter. When we go through difficult seasons, it puts us in a battle between our human nature (our intellect, reasoning, feelings, desires, etc.) vs our spiritual nature (which connects us with God). Sometimes the devil whispers to us through our human nature. When we focus on the peace that God is giving us in our spiritual nature and we resist giving in to the confusion, frustration, fear, and so on, that our human nature is experiencing, we're doing just what the Bible says to do:

"Submit yourselves then, to God [in this case, by focusing on the peace that God is giving you in your spiritual nature]. Resist the devil [who is trying to influence you in your human nature], and he will flee from you" (James 4:7, comments added).

Refined in the Fire

The Bible also describes this process as being refined or purified or tested in the fire:

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold." (Job 23:10)

"For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." (Psalms 66:10-12)

"See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10)

""In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'"" (Zechariah 13:8-9)

"But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness" (Malachi 3:2-3)

"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." (1 Peter 1:6-7)

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you." (1 Peter 4:12)

For example, goldsmiths melt unrefined gold in a crucible at high heat (up to around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit), which causes the impurities to rise to the surface. Then they scoop the impurities off of the surface of the melted gold. This and other techniques transform the gold into a more purified form.

The analogy is that God sometimes allows us to go through trials and tribulations in order to purify our hearts like gold. When we're "in the fire," it causes some of the impurities in our hearts (anger, impatience, unforgiveness, etc.) to rise to the surface. When God turns up the heat in my life and I find myself experiencing wrong attitudes, I try to acknowledge them and ask the Lord to "scoop" those impurities off of my heart. When I remember to do this, those wrong attitudes usually evaporate immediately, which is pretty amazing to experience.

The Chrysalis

Here's another illustration that might be helpful: When a caterpillar is enclosed in its chrysalis (similar to a moth's cocoon), it must stay inside for the proper amount of time in order to be transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

If you discover a chrysalis and you cut it open with a knife to "help" the butterfly get out, you'll probably find a half-formed creature inside that can't fulfill its purpose as a butterfly. No matter how dark and confining and uncomfortable it is, the caterpillar must spend the full amount of time in the chrysalis so it can emerge as a beautiful butterfly that's able to fulfill its proper role in nature.

If we don't want to be like that half-formed creature, incapable of fulfilling our purpose on earth, then we shouldn't pray or hope for God to remove us from our chrysalis before the appointed time. These seasons can be very painful, frightening, confusing, frustrating, and uncomfortable, and we want to get out of these seasons as soon as possible. But there's always a purpose for these seasons, and there's always an appointed time when we'll emerge from them.

The Valley

After finishing one of these difficult, painful, frustrating seasons, it feels as if we've had to claw our way up a mountain and we've finally reached the summit where we can rest and have some welcome relief. Being on a mountain-top is an illustration of how we've grown to some degree during that season, and we've reached a higher level of spiritual maturity.

But at some point, God will want to move us to the next mountain-top, even higher than before. What do we find between two mountain-tops? A valley.

God will walk us through the valley to get us to that next mountain-top, and we'll go through painful, confusing, frustrating, frightening times once again as God stretches our faith and stretches our patience, preparing us for something new.

How to Get through These Seasons

There's no easy way to get through these seasons. That's the whole point of them, because all living things need struggles in order to grow stronger and become more mature. Remember, "no pain, no gain." The struggles and the squeezing pressure of our circumstances will take our faith and our patience almost to the breaking point in order to humble us and teach us to trust that God is taking care of us. Notice what the New Testament says about humbling or humiliating ourselves:

"Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4 NKJV)

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12)

"Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?" (2 Corinthians 11:7 NKJV)

"I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged." (2 Corinthians 12:21)

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8)

"But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." (James 4:6-10)

"In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." (1 Peter 5:5-6)

Other people, even other Christians, won't always understand what God is doing in your life during these seasons, which can be very humbling. Accept the humbling or humiliation; it's all part of the process.

There are numerous New Testament passages which say that Christians will go through suffering (see my article called Cheat Sheet #15). There are also a number of New Testament passages which say that God disciplines His children through painful hardships (see my article called Cheat Sheet #11). So if you're going through something difficult or frustrating or painful, it's a good idea to ask the Lord if you're being disciplined (for help with that, see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance). For example, recently I was frustrated by having insomnia every night. It turned out that I was being disciplined because God had told me to do something and I wasn't doing it correctly. When I asked how to do it correctly and was obedient, the insomnia immediately went away. This is one reason why it's important to learn how to discern God's guidance, because if we don't correct our disobedience then we're likely to be disciplined even more severely.

To help you get through these difficult seasons, keep reminding yourself that:

God has not forgotten about you, and He's not ignoring you.
Just like with the clay vessel, and just like with the gold, and just like with the caterpillar, the process needs to continue through to completion in order to finish its work of transforming you.
There's an appointed time when you'll emerge from this season. You can't speed up the process.
Everything that happens to you is because God wanted it to happen or allowed it to happen. Everything. For example, God allows people to bring suffering on other people even when that's not what He wants. The way to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering due to your own sins or the actions of others is to always stay on the individual path that God has for you. God is aware of and involved in every aspect of your life, no matter how big or how small, and if you listen to Him all day, every day, and obey Him then He will keep you on the best and safest path for your life (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).
The best way to succeed in the Christian life is to be surrendered to the Lord, all day, every day. If our priorities mostly revolve around our own plans and desires (or the things of this world) rather than revolving around God's plans and desires, then our priorities are wrong. Our minds and emotions can't foresee the future and therefore they can't make the best plans for us. They're just guessing, and often they're completely wrong (sometimes dangerously wrong) about what's the best thing to do. God knows the future, so surrender your life and plans to His will, all day, every day, in order to have the best, safest, and most effective life possible.
Good things come to those who wait.
It's normal to experience a range of emotions. The only way to make things easier on yourself is to find a way to "let go and let God," as the saying goes. He's with you at every moment through every trial, making a path to bring you through it. Accept the trials and absorb the punches, knowing that you will get through this season. The key is to learn to rest in Him, trusting that He's taking care of you.
God is still good even in your seasons of hard times and suffering, and He's using these seasons to bring about a good result in your life. In fact, every time God answers your prayers or does something amazing, write it down. When you're going through one of these seasons of testing, read back what you had written and remind yourself of God's goodness.
You're in a spiritual battle between your human nature (your intellect, reasoning, feelings, desires, etc.) vs your spiritual nature (which connects you with God). Sometimes the devil whispers to you through your human nature. When you focus on the peace that God is giving you in your spiritual nature and you resist giving in to the confusion, frustration, fear, and so on, that your human nature is experiencing, you're doing just what the Bible says to do:
"Submit yourselves then, to God [in this case, by focusing on the peace that God is giving you in your spiritual nature]. Resist the devil [who is trying to influence you in your human nature], and he will flee from you" (James 4:7, comments added).

Imagine that you're using a GPS app to help you get to an appointment. The GPS app says that it will get you to your appointment barely on time by taking you down back roads and side streets with lots of stop signs and traffic lights. That's not a path that you want to be on, so you ignore the GPS app and get on the highway, taking the path that you want to take. Soon you're stuck in traffic due to an accident, and you end up being very late for your appointment. The GPS app knew about the accident, and prompted you to take a route that might be frustrating but will have the best outcome. The analogy is that God knows what will happen in our future. Because of this, He prompts us to follow a path that might be frustrating and painful at times, but is guaranteed to have the best outcome. We can ignore His path and make our own way, but following our own path can never result in a better outcome than following God's path, and it might result in God disciplining us (perhaps severely) for disobeying Him (see my article called Cheat Sheet #11). We're only making things worse for ourselves when we don't stay on God's individual path for our life.

During my eighteen-year wilderness season I found a series of articles called Faith in the Night Seasons

that helped me understand what was going on. At that website there are many helpful articles on the "night season" as she calls it (start at the bottom of the list with the article called "The Eagle Story" and work your way up), but the one called What Are We To Do in our Night Season?

is a good one to start with. It will give you an idea of what the "night season" (or wilderness season, testing season, dry season, etc.) is, and what God is accomplishing in this season, and what you need to do during this time.

During my seasons of testing I've relied heavily on God's direct guidance to help me get through them (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance). In my current season of testing (in 2019), lately He keeps giving me the word "soon," so I believe that I will come out of this season in the near future. I can't help wondering, though, if His definition of "soon" is the same as mine!

Update on 05/27/2019: The Lord brought me out of that season of testing about two weeks after I wrote the previous paragraph.

Update on 06/16/2019: When my season of testing came to an end recently, I had hoped that a new season of ministry would begin right away. However, I'm still in limbo, waiting for the new season to begin. A couple of days ago the Lord prompted me to go to a bookstore, and when I got there He prompted me to go to the "Christian Living" section. I scanned the book titles, listening on the inside for Him to "nudge" me when I came to the book that He wanted me to find. It turned out to be "Chase the Lion" by Mark Batterson, so I bought the book and began reading it, listening for His "nudge" on the inside. It came when I reached page 92, where I read, "The hardest part of any dream journey is the holding pattern." Over the past few months the Lord has given me a number of details about the ministry that He wants me to have, but apparently I must wait in a holding pattern until the appointed time arrives. So even when our seasons of testing come to an end, we still might need to wait in limbo until the new season begins.

Update on 12/14/2019: Still in limbo, still in the holding pattern, trying (mostly successfully) to remain patient.

Update on 04/12/2020: The Lord has been giving me indications that I'll be out of limbo soon. Looking forward to that!

Update on 10/29/2020: Well, the Lord is prompting me to add another update, and I'm a bit confused here. I've been assuming that I'm still in the holding pattern because I haven't yet received the very specific sign that He told me to wait for (which will indicate that the new season is beginning), but now He's telling me that the holding pattern ended months ago. I don't quite get it because I'm still waiting for the sign, which to me means that I'm still in that same limbo. But apparently there are stages to this, and the limbo holding pattern was a stage that has ended. I'm not sure what that means, because from my perspective nothing has changed. However, recently He prompted me to buy "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer, and on page 7 she wrote, "well-laid plans take time." I felt the familiar "nudge" from the Lord when I read that, so I knew that He wanted me to read the book in order to see that. But then He prompted me to continue reading, and on page 34 she wrote, "Sometimes God takes His time about bringing us our full deliverance. He uses the difficult period of waiting to stretch our faith and to let patience have her perfect work." Once again I felt the "nudge," and then the Lord said that I can stop reading. It's a huge blessing that the Lord has been giving me confirmations that I simply need to continue waiting, but I'm confused about these "stages." I'm sure He'll explain it one of these days.

Update on 02/05/2021: Analogies tend to be imperfect, but a chess game is a decent analogy for these "stages" of waiting. Imagine a rook, one of the pieces that starts off at the corners of the chess board. Before the game starts, that rook is sitting in the box with all of the other pieces, waiting to be pulled out and used. Then the box is opened and the pieces are placed on the board, so the rook feels excited that things are about to happen. But it might be awhile before the game actually begins, so once again the rook sits waiting. When the game begins and other pieces are being moved, the rook might not see anything happening from its corner. From the players' perspective, the game is in progress and things are happening, but from the rook's perspective nothing has changed. It's still waiting to be put to use, but it doesn't realize that the purpose for its waiting has changed. Originally, it was waiting because the game had not yet begun. Now it's waiting until it's the best strategic moment for it to be moved. Then it gets moved once or twice, and it feels excited that it's finally in the game, but it might need to sit in that new spot throughout most of the game. It doesn't realize that it's in a critical place, protecting certain squares and in a position to attack other squares, all it knows is that once again it's waiting. So there are different purposes for our waiting, and we're not likely to be aware of the reasons why we need to wait so long to be put to use. The Lord is the ultimate Master Chess Player, and we need to rest in His timing and His plans.

Update on 07/27/2022: For the past several years I've been writing a book called Divine Healing Absolutely Is for Today, and just over a year ago God prompted me to upload a free PDF of version 1 to my website. Then He told me that the moment I uploaded version 1, that was the start of my new ministry. Yet He still has not given me the specific sign that He told me to expect, and He still has not shown me what I need to know in order to finish the book. I realize that it's all about the proper timing (just like in the chess game analogy), but that doesn't always make the waiting any easier.

Update on 09/21/2023: Still waiting for that specific sign that God told me to expect, and still waiting for Him to show me what I need to know in order to finish my book. I wish I could provide a useful method to make it easy to get through these seasons, but the simple fact is that they are mind-blowingly difficult. Many times I'm able to be calm and trusting while I wait, but sometimes the frustration is just overwhelming, and so is the feeling of being fed up and sick to death of this waiting. What's interesting is that I can sense in my spirit that everything is fine, it's all going to work out well, and there's nothing to be concerned about. But I can also sense in my mind all of that frustration and impatience. As long as I'm leaning on what my spirit is telling me, I feel fine. It's only when I listen to my mind that I start feeling fed up and sick to death of this, and I just want to jump out of my skin. So I guess that's the method for getting through this. Recently the Lord showed me that "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Luke 12:48), so it helps in a way knowing that I'm just paying my dues, so to speak, before I'm allowed to finish this book and go out into more of an active ministry.

Update on 10/06/2023: My article called How to Discern God's Guidance describes various internal signals that God uses to guide us. This morning I noticed a new signal from God inside me that I've never experienced before. When I asked Him what that signal is for, the answer I got was that it's essentially a certificate of completion. I don't quite know what that means, but it sounds promising.

Update on 10/24/2023: During my career I occasionally needed to take a week-long class to increase my skill set, and each day the instructor did some teaching and then gave us a short assignment, followed by more teaching and another assignment, etc. On the last day of class, during the first assignment of the day, the instructor went around to each desk and gave us a piece of paper that was our certificate of completion. Yet we still had the rest of the day before we actually finished the class. So even after receiving my certificate of completion for this season (see my previous update), I'm still waiting for it to be over. To the Lord, a day is like a thousand years (Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8), so there's no way to know how long "the rest of the day" will be (in the classroom analogy).

Update on 11/18/2023: I have a lot of faith in God, and a lot of patience, and it's rare for anything to bother me. God has to work very hard to stretch my faith and my patience, and He finally started to reach that point over the past few months. When I woke up this morning, still waiting for the specific signal that He told me about more than 24 years ago (although it's not just the amount of time, it's also the pressures that He's been piling on lately), the only word I can think of to describe how I felt was anger. I can't even remember the last time I felt angry, but I'm pretty sure it was mild anger that I was feeling. I sat down and asked the Lord what's going on with me, and He said that He wanted me to reach the point of being angry because it's a test to see what I would do. I've been through so many tests over the past few years, and He always tells me that I successfully passed those tests, so I asked, haven't I already demonstrated over and over and over that I'm always going to obey Him? But then He showed me something I hadn't really considered before: the story of Job. God was not testing Job's righteousness or faithfulness for proving anything to God, but instead, God was showing the devil that Job would remain faithful even in the face of severe testing. We tend to be completely naive and unaware of the spiritual battle that the Bible describes, but it's real. When we remain faithful and obedient to God no matter what's going on in our lives (whether we want to or not), we're doing spiritual warfare by resisting the devil. The apostle Paul told Timothy to join with him in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3), and he said that our suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-4). James said that our trials test our faith, producing perseverance so that we will be mature and complete (James 1:2-4), comparing it to Job's perseverance (James 5:11). The apostle Peter said that our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, and to resist him, standing firm in the faith, because after we have suffered a little while then the Lord will restore us and make us strong, firm, and steadfast (1 Peter 5:8-10). Jesus said not to be afraid of what you are about to suffer because "the devil will put some of you in prison to test you" (Revelation 2:10). As soon as I realized that this is spiritual warfare, I praised the Lord out loud so that the devil could hear it, and I asked the Lord to scoop the impurities out of me (as I described earlier), and the anger immediately evaporated. I feel weary of this sometimes, but I am not defeated.

Update on 11/19/2023: The purpose of these updates is to give you insight into how difficult these seasons can be and what God is doing in them, to help you in your journey. This morning I asked the Lord for more insight into that anger, and asked Him if the frustration I sometimes feel, and the anger in this case, shows a lack of trust in Him, and He said no. That surprised me. Then He showed me that these emotions are normal and to be expected, but they happen because He is not doing what I would expect Him to do, or what I would want Him to do, or in the timing that I would prefer, causing feelings of self-preservation to kick in. These feelings happen because of self-centeredness, meaning that we are elevating our "self" (our human nature) and our own plans and desires above God and His plans and desires. John the Baptist put it this way about Jesus: "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30). Similarly, we are told not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to (Romans 8:5-9). As I pointed out earlier, humbling or humiliation is often part of the process, and it's intended to help us become less in our own eyes so that Jesus can become greater in us. Think about everything you were told throughout all of your schooling and in all of the church sermons you've heard; how much of what you were told really stuck with you? God doesn't just tell us to set aside our self-centeredness, but instead, He often teaches us in the school of hard knocks by giving us opportunities to struggle against and battle against our selfish human nature. Our human nature is often in a battle of wills against God (Acts 20:24, Romans 7:18-25, 8:5-9, 2 Corinthians 5:15, Galatians 2:20, 6:14, Philippians 3:7-9), which is what causes all of the pain, frustration, fear, and confusion during these seasons. As we saw earlier, the way to get through these seasons with as little pain as possible is by letting go of how we want things to be and letting God do things His way. His way is always best.

Update on 11/28/2023: In old-time cartoons, sometimes a person had a little angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other shoulder, each whispering in an ear and trying to influence the person to do right or wrong. If we think of our spirit instead of an angel, and our human nature (our mind, will, emotions, personality, etc.) instead of a devil, each "speaking" in an ear and telling us what to believe and do, this illustrates the spiritual battle that I've described. The problem we have is that our human nature "speaks" very loudly and insistently, and is easily led astray by the devil (e.g., Matthew 16:21-23), whereas God "speaks" very softly and quietly, usually getting drowned out in all the noise inside us. The only way to be properly obedient to the Lord and avoid being disciplined (perhaps severely), both in this life and in heaven (see my article called Cheat Sheet #12), is to diligently learn how to discern His guidance, and then obey what He tells you. To learn step-by-step how to do this, see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance. Keeping our mental focus primarily on our spiritual nature rather than our human nature (by making it a habit to keep listening on the inside for God's guidance as described in my article above) is the way that this spiritual battle is won.

Update on 03/31/2024: About two weeks ago, the information that I needed for finishing my book suddenly popped into my head as I was driving, and I have completed the book and sent it to my editor. However, I still have not received the specific sign that it's time to go out into more of an active ministry. During this difficult season I've come across numerous articles online that describe how God uses suffering in our lives to prepare us for something (one interesting article is Seven Reasons Why Suffering Makes Me Believe In God Even More

). I also recently listened to some videos/podcasts that do a good job of explaining what is going on in these seasons: The Two Anointings

by Frank Viola, Waiting on the Lord (When the Dream Tarries)

by Frank Viola, and Discerning the Voice of God - Video Session 5

by Priscilla Shirer (this is part 5 of her series on hearing God's voice, but this video is mostly about how God takes us through wilderness seasons).

Conclusion

All Christians will go through painful seasons because these seasons stretch our faith and our patience almost to the breaking point, which strengthens and transforms us (as in the illustration of the potter and the clay).

Notice that any goal that you want to achieve, such as being an athlete, becoming a musician, building strength by lifting weights, etc., might require the agony of hours of practicing each day, hours of training, many frustrations when you're not progressing the way you want, and so on. Great accomplishments do not come easily. In the seasons that God takes us through, the excruciating waiting that we must go through is so that we will be able to handle the new thing that God has in mind for us when the time comes. He is building our relationship with Him in these seasons so that we'll be ready when the new thing arrives.

Throughout the Bible we can see that God's people went through these seasons as well. For example, when God delivered the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, He led them into the wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35). Before John the Baptist could begin his ministry of preparing the way for the Lord, he had to spend time in the wilderness (Luke 1:80). Before Jesus could begin operating in His powerful ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness (Luke 3:21-4:2). The apostle Paul endured numerous hardships and sufferings (2 Corinthians 11:22-33). King David, Elijah the prophet, Joseph (with the coat of many colors), and many other servants of God went through trials and tribulations. God takes us through the wilderness, the desert, the valley, the dry times, the night season, or whatever we choose to call it, when He's preparing us for greater things.

Even though I'm the one who wrote this article, each time I read through it during a wilderness or valley or testing season, it always reminds me that there's a purpose for the pain, the confusion, the waiting, the frustration, the humbling or humiliation, and so on, because during our hard times it's easy to forget that there's a purpose. It might also be helpful for you to read through this article periodically to remind yourself that God has a purpose for these seasons and that He will get you through them.

There are two questions that you'll probably want God to answer: "Why" and "When." You'll want to know why certain events had to happen, or why you're going through these fires, and you'll want to know when will these trials come to an end. From what I've seen and read and experienced, God doesn't usually answer these questions, but hopefully you now have a better understanding of what's happening to you in these seasons and what to do when you're going through them. Again, during my seasons of testing I've relied heavily on God's direct guidance to help me get through them, and so can you (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance).

For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification.

Dave Root
home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com

"Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)

"Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23)

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7)

"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

Modification History

10/07/2024 - Added links to my articles called "Cheat Sheet #11" and "Cheat Sheet #12" in the section called "How to Get through These Seasons." Fixed some broken links.
07/06/2024 - Added an update in the Introduction section.
05/15/2024 - Added a paragraph in the Conclusion section.
04/19/2024 - Slightly modified James 4:7 in the section called "The Potter and the Clay" and the section called "How to Get through These Seasons." Added more passages in the section called "Refined in the Fire."
03/31/2024 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
11/28/2023 - Modified the last paragraph in the section called "The Potter and the Clay." Added the last bullet point in the section called "How to Get through These Seasons." The Lord prompted me to add another update.
11/19/2023 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
11/18/2023 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
11/15/2023 - Modified the first paragraph in the section called "The Valley."
11/02/2023 - Added some information about humbling ourselves in the section called "How to Get through These Seasons."
10/24/2023 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
10/06/2023 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
09/21/2023 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
01/17/2023 - Slightly modified the fifth bullet point in the section called "How to Get through These Seasons." Modified the Conclusion section.
01/02/2023 - Renamed the section called "The Cocoon" to "The Chrysalis" because cocoons are only for moths.
12/16/2022 - Slightly modified the section called "The Potter and the Clay."
07/27/2022 - Slightly modified the section called "The Valley." The Lord prompted me to add another update.
07/23/2022 - Modified my closing statement.
06/22/2022 - Modified the last paragraph in the Introduction section.
04/24/2022 - Added a paragraph about being disciplined by God in the section called "How to Get through These Seasons."
11/07/2021 - Added a paragraph in the Conclusion section.
11/03/2021 - Made the font size a bit bigger and added a fish symbol as a favicon (which is displayed in the browser tab).
06/25/2021 - Added "It's always darkest just before the dawn" in the Introduction.
02/05/2021 - The Lord prompted me to add another update.
01/17/2021 - Added another bullet point (about surrendering to the Lord) in the section called "How to Get through These Seasons."
10/29/2020 - The Lord prompted me to add an update, saying that the limbo holding pattern is over, even though I'm still waiting for His sign that the new season is beginning.
04/12/2020 - The Lord prompted me to add an update, saying that I've been getting indications that I'll be out of limbo soon.
12/14/2019 - The Lord prompted me to add an update, saying that I'm still in limbo.
07/14/2019 - Added an analogy about a GPS app.
06/16/2019 - Added an update about waiting in limbo, or in a holding pattern, until God begins our new season of ministry.
05/27/2019 - Added an update that the Lord brought me out of my recent season of testing.
05/03/2019 - Re-wrote this article.
07/19/2003 - Added an analogy of how God allows us to go through trials in order to refine our hearts like gold.
02/27/2002 - Added an illustration about a caterpillar in its chrysalis.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). NIV (R). Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added.)