does hardship bring you closer or further to god/your faith? justify?

Question

does hardship bring you closer or further to god/your faith? justify.

for example, you are soo good to everyone but you are given an illness that won't go away. or you only have 1 person in you life whom you love so much then is taken away. it is the hardships then that makes us either stronger or more grieving... but for you, what justifies your relationship with the one you believe in ? does hardship bring you closer or further to your faith??? justify.

Answer 1

i always run to JC during hardship, so i tend to grow closer to Him during those times. hardship seem to work for me coz i'm naturally independent, rebellious & prideful. so He cause me to fall back in line. hey! just like a loving father do.

Answer 2

I wouldn't have been able to answer this just as little as two years ago but today I can tell you that hardships have definitely brought me closer to God. I survived Katrina and my mothers death all within seven months of this past year. I never thought that I would be able to survive losing her, she was my rock and the best person I ever had the privilege of knowing. It has been ONLY through faith and trust in christ that I have been sustained and am able to rest comfortably in the fact that she is safe and well in heaven and that she is still with me in love and spirit.

Answer 3

Wow, great questions tonight, really!

I think for me hardship makes me question my religion, but at the same time, makes me glad I have so many brothers and sisters that are there for me in times of need. Family and friends to prop me upright again.

I do find myself losing enthusiasm for spiritual things though in hardships, when I probably should be doing the opposite.

I don't know what you mean by qualify, but this is just my experiance.

Answer 4

When my sister died it push me further from him and when I had multiple problems with my health then I really just lashed out at him and rejected him for a long time. In my lowest period of my life about 4 yrs ago, I was encourage to seek him. I decided to give GOD the biggest rant out of this world and I'm sure he gets a lot of them until I had this beautiful spiritual experience that change my life. It's totally indescribable. God drew me closer to him on that day and I haven't look back since.
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Answer 5

The Bible says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4). And again, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 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" (1st Peter 1:3-7)
The "storms of life" are never easy to go through. But I assure you it is far better to go through them with Christ than without Him. He has promised "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
We also have His promise that one day all our suffering will come to an end when we die to go and be with Christ in Heaven, or we are caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air at His return. God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and rise from the dead for your eternal life. If you haven't done so make your commitment to Christ today.

Answer 6

in my own experience, yes... adversity does lead you to seek God almost desperately... when things are going A-OK, we all tend to treat God like a "spare tire" - its there in the trunk when we need it.

It was at a time of crisis in my life that I encountered God... perhaps it was becuase I was desperately seeking Him, for I had no one and nothing else to prop me up at the time... I still look back to that time of conversion with some wonder... it has shaped my life.

Of course, I have heard that adversity actually embittered people to such an extent that they loss faith in God... I admit this is a bit difficult for me to understand, but so it happens.
I beleive though that without God's grace, we will all fall away so easy...

I pray that you will endure to the end.

Answer 7

For some odd reason, Christians experience a revival whenever their country persecutes them for their faith. Or is it really an odd thing?

"Consider a pure joy, my brothers, wheneer you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)

We should always be thankful to God under any circumstances. =)

Answer 8

I became a Christian when my younger brother died. My parents were busy with their own grief, my friends only knew how to stand by and sympathize. I found someone who helped me make it through. If ever there were a time to deny God, that was it, but it didn't turn out that way. Does that count as justification?

Answer 9

It depends if you faith is in a distant God or not.

Edward Shillito, shattered by the carnage of the First World War, found comfort in the fact that Jesus was able to show his disciples the scars of his crucifixion. It inspired him to write his poem 'Jesus of the Scars':

If we have never sought, we seek thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-marks on thy brow,
We must have thee, O Jesus of the scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by thy scars we know thy grace.

If, when the doors are shut, thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of thine;
We know today what wounds are, have no fear;
Show us thy scars, we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak;
They rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but thou alone.

Answer 10

Each of us have a choice, to get better or bitter.

For me, having lost a son of 12 years, I decided to get better. My relationship with God is closer now as I have leaned on Him for comfort solace and guidance. After all, who else is there to turn to? God knows and understands us better than we know and understand ourselves.

Praise His wonderful Name.