Everybody faces these questions at some point in their faith. They aren’t bad questions.

But if we don’t surrender them to the Lord and trust His promises, they can cause us to stumble and fall away.

I know this from experience. I was going through an immensely difficult time in my life and I lost sight of God’s love for me because of these questions.

How could He let me suffer so much? And why was He allowing such horrible things in my life and the lives of those I loved? It was a dark time, but it didn’t have to be.

The reason it became so difficult was because I had lost the hope of Christ. I stumbled in my faith and felt alone.

Trusting God is good when life is hard is one of the most important ways to hold onto hope no matter what you are going through.

I learned this the hard way.

It’s no easy task relying on God’s promises when everything in you screams there’s no hope. I’ve seen those I love walk away from faith in God for this very reason.

But this is where we are misled.

God’s goodness does not equal pain-free living. In fact, we are told that this world holds trouble.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

From the moment that Adam and Eve gave into temptation, sin was brought into the world and has since then, ravaged through mankind.

But God’s plan for salvation was set in place from that very moment. He knew we would need a savior. He knew that we would fall away.

To be honest, if you and I were in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, we would have fell to temptation too.

The Powerful Grace

God knew that we would need the powerful and heart-changing grace that he poured out in the death of Jesus Christ.

Without the unending mercy and forgiveness of Christ, we would be destined to destruction.

This grace allows us to return to the Lord with the expectation of eternity and redemption.

This grace is what gives us hope.

When life gets tough, you can rely on the powerful grace of Christ. This grace is molding you and shaping you to be beautiful and redeemed.

True Hope in Suffering

To hope in suffering goes against our natural inclination. Naturally, we want to avoid suffering. Naturally we want to do everything we can to diminish our trials.

But God asks us to live with a different mindset.

He tells us that these trials, these sufferings, they are what bring us hope. They are what produce perseverance and redemption.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. -Romans 5:3-5

It is through the trials we face that we grow closer to Christ and eternity.

When life is hard, you can lean on Christ’s transforming power to create lasting and true hope within you.

In All Things

No matter how hard things get, you must cling to this promise:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28

In all things, God is working for your good.

Don’t allow your emotions and feelings to be taken captive by Satan. Surrender your feelings of hopelessness, despair and grief to the Lord. It’s okay to feel sad. It’s okay to feel hopeless.

But you must remember that no matter how you are feeling, God is still working for your good.

If you can rely on this promise, you will find the strength to walk in hope no matter how hard life gets.

It took me a while to truly understand this promise. Because of all the suffering I’ve walked through, I thought that maybe that verse was wrong.

I was convinced that God wasn’t working for my good but for His good. And I tried my best to live for that promise. But it wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t until I understood that God truly cares for my good and that what I view as good isn’t always what He knows is good for me, that I could find hope.

Trusting God’s Definition of Good

We all have our own ideas of what is good. But God sees our lives from a completely different perspective.

He sees our lives from a perfect perspective.

What we view as good often equates to pain-free and lack of suffering.

But God sees the good in going through discipline and trials. He sees the good that comes from strengthening us through our suffering.

And this good far outweighs the momentary and earthly “good” that we often hope for.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. -2 Corinthians 4:17

Just as exercise can be painful but powerfully strengthens our bodies, so our trials may seem painful at the time, but can powerfully strengthen our faith.

These times of trouble bring us to an eternal glory that far outweighs any painful experience or trial that you experience.

When life is hard, cling to the promise that God is good. This will bring you hope and strength and will lead you to an eternal glory that far outweighs all trials.