I Am So Glad It Was Hard

I Am So Glad It Was Hard

By Steve Backlund

I was talking with Wendy recently as we reflected on high-profile Christian leaders who were in the news because of personal failures that have caused great pain in the Body of Christ. Some were people who rose quickly in influence and whose character hadn’t caught up with their calling. In the middle of that conversation, something came out of my mouth that surprised me with its clarity: “I am so glad it was hard for us.”

I’m grateful that our journey was slow. I’m thankful we struggled, wrestled, waited, failed, recalibrated, and had to grow up before we were trusted with greater influence. Difficulty didn’t disqualify us; it developed us.

I just turned 70. Here’s what I have learned about difficult seasons and why they are a gift to us.

1. Hard Seasons Mature Our Character for Growing Influence

Mark 2:22 - “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins…”

New levels require new containers. When influence grows faster than character, the pressure exposes what has not yet been transformed. Difficulty will stretch us, renew us, and make us capable of carrying what God wants to pour out in greater favor, resources, and responsibilities. 

Hard seasons aren’t God withholding promotion; they are God preparing us so promotion doesn’t destroy us.

2. The Fight Strengthens Our Ability to Steward Well Our Promised Land

Deuteronomy 7:22 - “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little…” 

The Promised Land in the Old Testament was called that because it was promised to the Children of Israel. It was already theirs, but they still needed to fight and struggle for it. A logical question then is: If God has already given them (and us) the Promised Land, then why do we still have to fight for it?

Because it is in the fight that we build the character required to steward the promise well once it’s realized. 

Instant victory would give us land without leadership capacity. Gradual victory develops wisdom, resilience, humility, and dependence on God. The resistance trains us for responsibility.

3. Delighting in Lord is a Weapon We Fight With

Psalm 37:4 - “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

This delighter is not someone whose desires are already fulfilled. He or she is someone who is fully alive, joyful, and wholehearted while still waiting for the desire to happen.

Delighting in God means we don’t postpone joy until our dreams come true. We live well now, even with unfulfilled longings. Waiting seasons are not wasted seasons when delight is present. The real truth is this: if we are not joyful now, we probably won’t be joyful then (with the greater responsibility of the desire fulfilled). 

Final Thoughts

Looking back, I’m deeply grateful that our journey required perseverance. The slow road helped us. The resistance refined us. The waiting shaped us.

I am not saying we should expect a life of difficulty, disappointment, and pain or that God does not sometimes suddenly thrust people unexpectedly into great favor, but I am saying, as I look back, the difficulty was a blessing for me. 

Hard doesn’t mean forgotten. Hard means becoming ready.

And today, I can say it without hesitation: I am so glad it was hard.