Why Is Life So Hard?

Why is Life So Hard?

The bottom line is because there is a spiritual battle going on for the souls of men. If you are somewhat familiar with Christianity, then you likely know how Satan was cast down from Heaven based on his rebellion against God. Since then, he has been driven with a desire to supplant God. While he cannot do this literally, the next best thing thing is to replace God as Lord in the hearts of God's creation. He seeks to destroy and replace God in the very creation God made in His image.

He sets out to deceive man into getting out of communion with God, which first occurred in the Garden of Eden. The main result of the fall reflected in the story of Adam & Eve is that man became selfish. Although Adam & Eve were created to be God's representative on earth, they abdicated that position when they disobeyed God. Why did they disobey? Because they wanted to be gods themselves.


Yet, in the midst of all of that, God sends a sinless, sacrificial offering who pays the price of sin that is due for man's rebellion (His Son Jesus). Therefore, by attaining to the righteousness in Christ through faith, man's own sin can be covered, he is made a new creature in Christ, and he is reconciled unto God.

To understand this battle, you must also understand the nature of the entities at war. Satan manipulates and deceives; he uses everything at his disposal to ensnare and destroy man. God, on the other hand, gives man free will; He lets man make his own choice.

Years ago on her show, Oprah Winfrey once asked, "If God really exists, then why doesn't He just make us do what He wants? Why even give us a choice? Why make it necessary to have faith?" This is because God will not override man's will; not because He cannot, but because He chooses not to. To force man's choice would make God a practitioner of witchcraft and therefore make Him no better than Satan. Satan's argument about God to Job is then proven, "No one would serve you God unless they were forced to or protected from calamity." Instead, God created a world where His character could be seen and experienced, allowing man to be drawn unto Him by nature of His goodness. In this, God's righteousness is affirmed and Satan is proven to be the liar that he is.

Remember, God is love. The opposite of love is selfishness (for God so love the world that He gave). We have a world of selfish, non-loving creations each working for only their own self-interest at odds with a loving, Holy God who is wooing His creation back to Him.

"Well" you may say, "I don't really feel like God loves me." That is largely because people have a warped understanding of what "love" is. Most people define "love" by what makes them feel good; it is based on how you treat them. If you are nice to me, do what I say, give me what I want, etc., then that is love. However, that is not love. That is selfishness. When "you" are at the center of it, that is not love. Love is giving of yourself to others, not trying to receive more for yourself. Love is not a feeling; love is selflessness. If you love, you give. If you are selfish, you only want to receive; it becomes all about you.

This is the essence of the spiritual war at hand and everyone has had a bite out of that apple. Everyone has troubles, trials, and sorrows. The interesting thing is that every single person is involved in this war, whether they realize/accept it or not. There is NO de-militarized zone. Either one is aligned with Jesus Christ (and gathering with Him), or one is on the side of Satan (and scattering against Christ).

The one trick Satan has used is convincing folks that this present world is all that matters. He uses all the bling and confusion of the world to make people believe that this physical existence is the totality of life. His goal? Keep people blind to their spiritual life within and the need to be concerned about any life but this one. Yet, there is a spiritual life. You may have 60, 80, 100 years in this world, but your spiritual life is eternal. Satan wants to make you focus on your physical life (bios - physical life) so he can control you via your soulish life (psyche- what you taste, see, feel, desire). God is offering you abundant life (zoe- life eternal). Which life do you consider more valuable?

"He that loveth his life (psyche) shall lose it; and he that hateth his life (psyche) in this world shall keep it unto life (zoe) eternal." John 12:25

So, why is life so hard? Because you are part of a spiritual war being fought. War is not pretty or easy. You may have battle scars, but even those work to make God's goodness more evident to you and to prepare you to endure the battle.

We are not speaking of a God who is so removed from our troubles that He has no compassion.

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15

We are speaking of a God who is so compassionate that He came down Himself to be the sacrifice to redeem us out of this war. In the end, no one has endured what God Himself has - Jesus offering up His very life for ours. He is the one who has paid the ultimate price - so that we would not have to. What are our afflictions compared to His?

There is only one reason why people reject Jesus Christ: they love themselves more than they love God. They are basically selfish. This is the battle God is fighting on behalf of man. This is why anyone who follows Jesus must first take up His cross, thereby putting aside his own soulish, selfish desires.

"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life (bios); that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." II Timothy 2:4

No, God doesn't take you out of the war, but He gives you the tools and strength to fight; He gives you encouragement and His Spirit to overcome. God did not start this war, but He has provided the means by which to save man from the war. The choice is now yours. Don't be dismayed by the battle. Rather, decide on which side you will serve.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33