I don’t think that I can find any period that stands out as being particularly harder than any other era. I had a few difficult days or weeks, but extreme trouble never went on too long thankfully.
But in general life, in any given week, school, university or work was the hard bit. I’d look forward to unwinding in the evening or weekends 😀. Now that I’m retired, I feel a little nostalgic about my working years. Because I’m not in the midst of the stress of particular projects, I can take a wider perspective and remember enjoying the challenges and the social aspects.
But a key New Testament verse that I often think of is the following:
John 16:33
33 I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
I think that Jesus was probably referring to the persecution that Christians would face. But even apart from that, life itself can be difficult. Whether or not you take a strict literal view of the early chapters of Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned, effectively choosing independence from God, it brought trouble into the world.
Genesis 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,
and have eaten from the tree,
about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
the ground is cursed for your sake.
You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
18 It will yield thorns and thistles to you;
and you will eat the herb of the field.
19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground,
for you were taken out of it.
For you are dust,
and you shall return to dust.”
Life wasn’t going to be paradise after that. We shouldn’t be too hard on Adam and Eve, because all of us are sometimes happy to listen to voices other than God, even if it means disobeying God. And we live with the consequences of “doing our own thing.”
Genesis 3:23-24
23 Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
But in Genesis and throughout the Old Testament, there’s the promise of the Saviour and the New Heaven and the New Earth, which will come at some stage. I often think of a verse in Romans 8:
Romans 8:18-21
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. 19 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
Things will be better for us in the future, if we repent and trust in the Saviour. Maybe we’ll think of this life as the hard years. But God is good to us even now. When the Apostle Paul spoke the some pagans who mistook him for a god, Paul reminded them of the true and living God, and how He was already good to them:
Acts 14:17
17 Yet he didn’t leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
So, I thank God for all the joys of life, whether they are deep things or superficial things, such as comedy, music, and computer games – the things that help me unwind 😀.
It would be nice if God ushered you into paradise or heaven at the moment you believed. But He doesn’t do that. My theory is that God wants us to experience something of what what life is like if we do our own thing rather than listening to God. And of course, He wants us to encourage others to believe.
Yet, the world isn’t as bad as it could have been. God still shows love to us, but we get a little taste of life without Him. And when we’re with Him in the future, we’ll be very glad to be completely reconciled to Him. And those who reject His offer of salvation will see what existence is like apart from God.
Here are some spiritual songs about trouble:
Hibernia Gospel 
Perfectly written…
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