I recently read this story from Following Jesus here on Substack.

A pastor asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast.

“Lord, I don’t like buttermilk”, the farmer began.

The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going.

The farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I don’t like lard.”

Now the pastor was growing concerned.

Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, “And Lord, you know I don’t much care for raw white flour”.

The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn’t the only one to feel uncomfortable.

Then the farmer added, “But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits.

“So Lord, when things come up that we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we don’t understand what you’re saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing.

“It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen.”

So often this is how God works in our lives. He gives us a bunch of things that we don’t want and will do almost anything to avoid, but through them, He makes something that is so wonderful, that we would do almost anything to not lose it.

It is almost always the hard times that grow us and and draw us closer to Him. I can see this in my own life.

Ten years ago, we had a rough year. First our hot water heat pipes burst because of sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures. This flooded our whole downstairs. We had to have the walls flood cut (drywall cut 18-24” above the floor) looking horrible and taking away all privacy in downstairs rooms. We had fans blowing 24/7 for about 6 weeks. It sounded like a 747 jet was parked in the living room. We couldn’t even hear ourselves think. It was quite stressful. We fought with insurance for about 8 months trying to get repairs done. They agreed with all of the repairs, but wanted to only pay barely over 50% of the cost to repair the house. We finally had to hire a lawyer and got a settlement for them to pay 90% of the repair cost. It was hard, but God was with us.

As soon as we got the settlement, we switched insurance companies. Ten days later, our house burnt down. I don’t mean it caught on fire. I mean it was vaporized. The only things that were recognizable after the fire were our 3 hour rated gun safe and our wood/coal stove but both were burned beyond repair. Based on melting temperatures of metals, we estimate the interior of the house reached around 1800 F. It was hard, but God was with us.

Because we had no house, we had to find somewhere to live. The new insurance company was great and within a month had paid for the house, a year’s rent, and even trees that burnt down. We moved into a new house, where we lived comfortably while rebuilding the first house. Because insurance settled with us instead of just paying for repairs as they were done, we had a large chunk leftover to add to what the new insurance company paid for our house. When all was complete, we had a better house and it was completely paid off. (The new house was brick and metal, so there is a low chance of another fire).

Meanwhile, while we were in the rental house, my husband ruptured his achilles tendon. He was on crutches and unable to walk or even touch his foot to the ground for months. The old house was 2-stories and had steep stairs with shallow steps that were impossible to navigate with crutches. All bedrooms were upstairs and all living quarters were downstairs. When he had ruptured his other achilles ten years before, he had to sleep on the couch. The rental house was much better for taking care of him because the bedroom, living room, and kitchen were all together on a flat smooth surface. He could use his crutches to move from the bed to a recliner someone donated to us, so he could be with the rest of the family rather than separated. It was hard, but God was with us.

God used the flood (not fun) to prepare us for the fire (not fun), and the fire to prepare us for the injury (not fun). One year and one month later, we had a beautiful home (with no house payment) and a healed husband. Each hardship prepared us for the next. Best of all, when all the hardship was finished, our faith in God was so much stronger. We knew we could trust Him through every hardship and He would provide for us.

If you ask any member of our family, “If you could go back in time and skip that hard year, would you?” not a single member would choose to not go through the hardship.

God makes the best biscuits.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

If you want to learn more about loving hardship in the Lord, check out my book “Joy in the Storm.” If you can’t afford to buy the paperback or ebook, direct message me, and I will email a .pdf or .epub file to you.

May our Lord and Creator be with you through whatever hardship you are enduring. May He change your heart and help you to rest in Him, no matter how difficult things become. May He give you a glimpse of what He is making in you and through you, so you will not lose heart. May we meet one day in heaven and share what great things God has done.

Trust Jesus

All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.