Hard Times

Series: Trusting God in Hard Times

HARD TIMES! What are they? According to WIKIPEDIA , to give someone a “hard time” is to cause difficulty for that person, or to treat that person severely. Hard times are very personal. Satan has a way of knowing just how to tempt us. What you consider severe treatment I may “blow off” and ignore. Everyone has “hard times,” most of us more than once, many of us frequently. If you haven’t had any, be assured that they will come. Some people even seem to live their lives waiting for the next “hard time.” As Stephen C. Foster wrote in his song, “My Old Kentucky Home,” “By’n by hard times comes a-knocking at the door, . .”

We are promised hard times if we live as Christians. We may be ridiculed, lied about, ignored, forsaken by those we love, scorned by others. Business may be destroyed, possessions wiped out. And these are just the easy problems! What about the tortures of the early Christians? Have you known anyone recently who died for The Faith? Whose family has been ripped apart, taken into slavery? No one I know has been thrown to the lions, or burned at the stake, or even whipped to death, for any reason, much less for The Faith. If I had my own “trial by fire,” could I endure?

When I was in high school, a girl I knew had not one, but two abortions (both illegal at that time). I could not believe that anyone would do this! I already believed, without discussion with anyone else, that life begins at conception. My reading of God’s Word had made this plain to me. While in high school, I promised myself, deep inside myself, that I would never intentionally cause harm to any child of mine, before or after birth. Without consultation with any human, this was my conviction

During the 1950’s and ‘60’s there was an especially hard epidemic of Rubella, a usually harmless “childhood” disease. About 25% of babies whose mothers contracted Rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy were born with “congenital rubella syndrome.” As quoted from kidshealth.org:

Rubella in a pregnant woman can cause congenital rubella syndrome, with potentially devastating consequences for the developing fetus. Children who are infected with rubella before birth are at risk for growth retardation; mental retardation; malformations of the heart and eyes; deafness; and liver, spleen, and bone marrow problems. Nothing that medicine or other therapies could offer would positively affect the outcome of the pregnancy.

I contracted Rubella between the second and third months of my second pregnancy, the absolute worst time to have it because of all the development occurring in the baby at that time. My immunity prior to my breaking out with the tell-tale spots was “zero.” After all signs of the disease were gone, my immunity was so high it could not be accurately measured. While in training as a Speech Pathologist, I had worked with both children and their parents following the birth of a child with “congenital rubella syndrome.” I had seen the heartbreak of the parents, the handicaps of the children, who frequently were unable to care for themselves or learn past normal 3 – 5 year development. Now, I felt, I had caused this “curse” on my own child whom I wanted so much! HARD TIMES had hit!

My doctor insisted on an abortion. Colorado had just passed the first abortion law in the United States. It stated if two doctors agreed that continuation of the pregnancy would result in serious medical or emotional problems for either the fetus or the mother, a legal abortion could be performed. So, I could fly there, have the abortion, come home, and all would be well. One major problem my doctor had not considered…Me!I wanted this child, but I wanted this child to be healthy! Here I was, carrying this life conceived on purpose in love, yet, as I reasoned then, I was responsible for (i.e., blamed) for his ruined life! (I have since learned the difference between responsibility and blame.) I felt, “How could I bear to sentence my child to a life of extreme difficulty hardship? How could I handle it?” Yet I knew I couldn’t purposely kill this child! I dove into a deep depression.

I told my doctor, “No.” Paul (my husband) was in complete agreement with me. But very few people were. I lived the next seven months in torture, mentally, physically, and spiritually. I continued to suffer from depression, yet I had to care for our year-and-one-half old daughter every day, and try to keep our home going. I could hardly tolerate for anything to touch my skin. I felt like I was stung by everything that touched me. So the doctor put me on pain killers and anti-depressants (both dangerous to a developing fetus).I spent my afternoons during our daughter’s nap time writhing in agony on the bed, sobbing repeatedly, “Oh, God, please!” That is ALL I could pray for seven months! I could do nothing but endure. My faith was so weak!

I had yet to internalize the scripture from Romans 8:26-27:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (NIV)

Through the Spirit’s intervention Almighty God heard my prayers. Our son was born a healthy 8+ pounds. His development was precociously fast; he totally defied all human predictions regarding rubella syndrome. This child whom medical experts said I should abort is a faithful son to God, his Heavenly Father. He has known from an early age, Who saved him from a lifetime of disabilities. How could anyone have suggested that I terminate that life? I praise God daily for His merciful kindness!

That was truly a “Hard Time” for me. I learned that if God, in all His love and power, could see me through constant seven-month anguish, could and did protect our son from the ravages of rubella syndrome, He can and will see me through anything this world has to strike me with. His answer is not always the one I seek. But in His perfect love, “. . . we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28, NIV)

How did I get through that “Hard Time”? Prayer! Intervention of the Spirit! In my weakness I did not understand the intervention of the Spirit. But God was, as He always is, faithful. His Word is perfect, His promises are true, our trust in Him will prove His love. Some babies are born with disabilities, some acquire them. Not everything we pray for will receive the answer we seek, but God wants to send only His best for our eternity. Sometimes He sends HARD TIMES! and we grow. But He will see us through. This life is brief. He who endures shall receive a crown of life, forever no Hard Times but PERFECT “TIMES” with our God!

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 (NIV). . . Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev. 2:10 (NIV)Almighty God, help us to know You better, to trust You, to love You, to believe that You want only the best for us. Sustain us through our “Hard Times.” Help us to trust that You know what is best, and that truly “Good Times” on earth are only those times we live in service and love to You. Thank you for the intervention of your Spirit, who helps us know and love You more. Through Jesus, our Savior, Amen.

Marilyn Schulze
Stephenville, Texas