Top 7 Bible Verses About Hardship

The Bible speaks a lot about hardships so what are 7 of the top Bible verses about hardship?

Second Corinthians 12:10 “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

It was for the sake of taking the gospel to the world that Paul endured many hardships, no one would debate that. He suffered through calamities, persecutions, insults, and even beatings, torture, imprisonment, stoning, and just about anything else you can imagine to show that when he was weak, he was strong…due to the sufficiency that he found in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In one of the greatest chapters in the Bible about the preservation of the saints, Paul puts forth all of the perils and hardships that could possibly come our way; danger, nakedness, persecutions, distress, the sword and even through all of this he proclaims that none of these…and in fact, no created thing, can possibly separate us from God. When a person starts to doubt their salvation due to severe hardships or even doubt, Romans chapter 8 is the remedy.

Second Corinthians 6:3-5 “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.”

Once more, Paul uses himself and those who were with him (“as servants of God”) as an example that neither these nor any other hardships will discredit their ministry. He could have been including John Mark or Barnabas or Luke but he never singles himself out and usually includes the “we” or “us” so as to give due credit for those who were with him who also had to endure the same hardships as he did.

Second Timothy 2:3 “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

I love the way Paul puts this when writing to Timothy in his very last letter on earth. He sees that the suffering of the Christian and Timothy specifically, is like that of a good soldier who endures much suffering but the suffering is shared among many of the other saints. Isn’t it a bit easier to go through suffering when someone is going through it with you than if you are going through it alone?

Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.”

Jesus warned the disciples that their hardships would include their eventually being put to death. Jesus never tried to sugar coat the truth like some prosperity preachers do. They like to think that no one should suffer if they are being obedient to Christ but it is that very obedience to Christ that assures them that indeed, there will be hardships. Every one of these disciples had this come true except the Apostle John; they were delivered up for trial, they were hated for Jesus’ sake, they went through much tribulation, and then all but John were martyred. It’s too bad that these prosperity preachers won’t tell those who live in other parts of the world that they should expect hardships.

Philippians 3:10-11 “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul writes something quite interesting here; he associates knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection with becoming like Him in death. In fact, Paul did become like Christ in his eventual death by execution; not be crucifixion but rather by being beheaded (church history says). In this way, Paul became like Christ in His death and today he knows Christ better than anyone on earth does because he is in the presence of the Lord at this very moment.

Acts 14:21-22 “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

When it was said that to continue in the faith was to be passing through many tribulations and by these, they “must” enter the kingdom, this proves that all must endure some amount of suffering or hardships. The word “tribulations” is often translated as hardships because they are essentially the same thing. The key point here is that we all “must” go through hardships to enter the kingdom of God which is saying that there’s no other option and there’s no “Plan B.” Jesus was clear about this when He said “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt 7:14). Few find it because the way is hard and the gate is narrow…all proving it is through hardships that we must necessary pass through in order to enter the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

Today, many are still finding the way hard because the gate is so narrow. This is why so few will find it. Jesus warned that many, not a few, will cry out to the Him on that day and say “Lord, Lord” but tragically, Jesus will say “Depart from Me for I never knew you” (Matt 7:21-23). Some say “I know the Lord” but the real question is “Does Jesus know you?”

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.