For Christians, hard times might not be the blight on our existence we think them to be. If we believe God’s word, which reminds us that God is working in our favor as much in the hard times as in the good, we have no reason to panic during the difficult days, as we are prone to do.

The good times are to be expected, and the hard times are surprising and strange. Perhaps that unconscious assumption is causing us grief. In his book Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry describes the “old-timers” in a way that seems lost on many people today. He says: “As much as any of the old-timers, he regarded the Depression as not over and done with but merely absent for a while, like Halley’s comet.”
Though many wrongly interpret this disposition as fear, there can be health in this way of thinking. For many of us, politicians have promised us the world, and we have believed them. Conservatives and liberals alike often feel that the state of our existence should always be one of constant progress and that if we had the right politicians in place, humanity could build its tower to heaven. This thinking, of course, is foolish. There are good days and bad days ahead for all of us. Sickness, economic collapse, and natural disasters are nothing new. They have all happened in the past, and they will occur again in the future. Scripture tells us that when fiery trials come upon us, we should not think something strange is happening to us (1 Pet. 4:12). Though this verse applies primarily to persecution, it is true of any hardship.
To make this more personal, as long as our health is robust and our jobs feel secure, we think we can handle anything, but in the words of the late Rich Mullins, “We are not as strong as we think we are.”
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Christian contentment opposes despair. For the believer, there should never be a time when we believe there is no hope. God can always open the doors of heaven (2 Kings 7:2). In other words, just because we do not see a way out does not mean God’s hands are tied. There is no situation in the life of God’s child where he will fail to keep us. Even if we do not understand the affliction, he is doing greater things than we can ever imagine.

We may say we are fully content with God and that he is all we need, but we all wrestle with certain sinful attitudes and behaviors that communicate otherwise. They are characteristics incompatible with fulfillment in God, but there is hope. The more we grow in Christian contentment, the more these tendencies will lose their grip on us. To summarize Jeremiah Burroughs, here are eight things godly contentment opposes in our lives.
1. Murmuring and Complaining
When we see the people of God in the Old Testament complaining as they wander in the wilderness, it is because they are not content with God’s leadership. They have not found him to be enough and think they need more than he has provided to be satisfied. Christian contentment finds its complete satisfaction in God himself and is not compatible with murmuring and complaining.
2. Worry and Fret
Christian contentment and disordered anxiety are contradictory to each other. Anxiety is the result of not trusting the One who is in sovereign control of our lives. As Christians, we serve a God who has bought us with his blood and holds the whole world in his hands. He knows how to rescue the godly and bring them through the trials of this life to be with him forever. Christian contentment understands this and knows that any affliction allowed in their life by our sovereign God may appear to be dark clouds, but they are filled with deep mercy. This is why Scripture tells us to be anxious for nothing.
3. A Perplexed Spirit
We may be crushed but not perplexed. Whether providence has provided us with much or little, the believer does not need to run around confusedly. There is truth in the old cliché’, we do not need to know what tomorrow holds because we know who holds tomorrow. As we mature as Christians, it will become more and more evident how little we understand and can control our lives. But at the same time, we will trust more and more in the goodness of our heavenly Father.
4. Distraction from Obedience to God
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Godliness with contentment is great gain, but we must not misinterpret what it is to such a degree that we turn this wonderful doctrine into something wretched. Godly contentment is not incompatible with feeling the pain of affliction, making our complaints known to God, or seeking lawful ways of escape.

As Jeremiah Burroughs puts it, Christian contentment is a rare jewel. Every believer should strive to possess it, but often, we misunderstand what it is and expect it to do things it will never do. To summarize Burroughs, here are three things Christian contentment does not include.
Firstly, Christian contentment does not mean we will not feel the weight of our afflictions. The crosses we must bear, whether persecution, illnesses, or any other trial, will cause our hearts to ache. As Peter indicates, being “grieved by various trials” is part of the Christian life (1 Peter 1:6-7). When you feel the pain of suffering, it does not mean you lack contentment in God. On the contrary, if we could not feel our afflictions, contentment would not be needed.
Secondly, contentment, which is submission to God’s sovereign will in hardship, is not in opposition to making our complaint known to Him or fellow Christians. However, when we make our lament, we must make it with humility. We show deference to God instead of being rebellious in heart and will. A godly complaint or lament will acknowledge the affliction is upon us and let God and other believers know in order to seek relief from the God of all comfort.
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To believe that a life of self-punishment and shame is needed for us to be right with God is to believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was insufficient. That is a lie of the enemy. There is complete freedom in Jesus. The reason they are unable to hurt us now is because He has disarmed them and put them to open shame (Colossians 2:15). Our sin is what gave them their power, but He has canceled our debt (Colossians 2:14). Even death has lost its sting in His resurrection.

They were gaining on me. Every breath I took was weighed down by the awareness that they were close behind. I had entered at the narrow gate, but somehow, they had managed to follow me onto the path. I could hear their taunts. Every one of their footsteps was like the sound of a war drum. There are days when they are out of sight. During those times, I feel the warm breeze of the Celestial City beckoning me homeward, but even then, I know they are lying in wait.
I did not think they could follow me onto the narrow path, but here they are. When I entered the narrow way, under the shadow of the cross, my sins were forgiven. He had delivered me from the slavery of sin that held me captive. Since He had opened the way and called me in, I thought I would be out of the reach of my enemies, yet they pursue me daily.
Every time I fall, the enemy shouts from behind, “You do not belong on this path! You belong to us, and we will catch and destroy you! I have learned the names of some, but I am still trying to figure out others. There are two who give chase called Shame and Regret. They often disguise themselves as messengers of the King. They tell me that, since my heart is prone to wander, the King prefers that I stay out of sight. That is Shame’s strategy. He convinces us that we need to hide. He does this to keep us from finding the assistance available in the congregation of the saints, and he works closely with regret to keep us from approaching the Throne of Grace.
Many other enemies desire to sink their teeth into me as well, like sickness and sorrow, sin and sadness, and the final enemy death who boasts of his many conquests. In those moments when I am running scared, I have learned that there is a song being sung.
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Do not forget what he has called you to. Our time is limited. “Live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2).  If we are bored with the Christian life, I would suggest it is not Christianity leaving us unfulfilled. We likely have one foot in the world and one in the faith, and it is the world that is leaving us uninspired.

Many of us have slipped into an Evangelical assumption about the Christian life that does not align with Scripture. We live a Christian existence that is far from the biblical reality. We have begun to see the spiritual life as not much more than attending church to listen to sermons—some good, some bad, doing our devotions, and then focusing on earthly things the remainder of the time. As an Evangelical, I realize this is not what historic Evangelicalism teaches, but it is how we often live our lives. No wonder so many are bored.
Peter calls us to much more than this malaise in his second epistle. He tells us that “God’s divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Yet we seem to have little life and little godliness, yet all of this is available through the knowledge of God. If we think a sermon a week and ten-minute daily devotions is sufficient to know such an awe-inspiring God, we have barely scratched the surface. Nor do we realize that he should encompass everything about us.
“He has granted to us his precious and very great promises” (2 Peter 1:4a). These promises include all things pertaining to justification and sanctification, but we often neglect the latter. Through these promises, “You may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4b). To be clear, this does not mean we become little gods. It means something less heretical and better for us. Peter is telling us the only true living God has taken up residence in us through the Holy Spirit. He is also telling us we can grow in holiness like our Father in heaven.
This news is glorious because we have “escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4c). Or have we?
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1 Peter 4:6 offers a profound reflection on the enduring power of the gospel in any situation. It challenges believers to set their minds on spiritual things, for the things of the world are passing away. The spiritual life we need can only be found in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, and even physical death cannot end that life.

Does Peter tell us the gospel was preached to the dead? 1 Peter 4:6 presents a theological complexity that warrants careful examination. It reads, “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.”
In dissecting this verse, we should acknowledge its complexity and the various interpretations it may yield. One plausible interpretation, held by men like John Calvin, links this verse to the mention of Jesus preaching to spirits in prison in chapter 3, verse 19. That would require a specific interpretation of that verse, many of which exist. R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Robert Leighton, and many others diverge from Calvin’s interpretation.
There are various opinions here, but the “preaching to the dead” mentioned in chapter 4 does not seem to link back to the mention of the “preaching to spirits” in chapter 3. The verse does not explicitly state that Jesus was the one who preached to these dead people, nor does it say they were deceased at the time of hearing the gospel. Moreover, the verse suggests that these individuals believed the gospel when they heard it and now “live in the spirit the way God does.”
It seems most accurate to say this verse implies that the gospel was preached to people who believed it and had since died. There would be no scriptural reason to preach to the dead because the Bible is clear; “It is appointed once for men to die, and then the judgment.”
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No matter what uncontrollable forces may push you around in this life, Jesus is on His throne, and those who place their faith in Him are His children. He will save us; every principality and power contrary to Him will be judged and ultimately destroyed. Take heart, children of God.

Daniel chapter seven opens with a vision of four beasts, each more terrifying than the one before, but the Ancient of Days eclipses them all. The first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings, but its wings had been plucked off. It was lifted from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was also given to it.
The second beast was like a bear with three ribs in its mouth, and it was told to devour much flesh. The third was like a leopard with four bird wings on its back, and it had four heads and dominion.
The fourth beast is described as terrifying and dreadful, exceedingly strong. It had iron teeth, and whatever its teeth did not destroy, it stomped with its feet. It also had ten horns, and an eleventh horn came up among them that grew boastful and said great things.
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Affliction sounds a retreat, to call us off the immoderate pursuit of earthly things. When two things are frozen together, the best way to separate them is by fire; so, when the heart and the world are together—God has no better way to separate them than by the fire of affliction.

Knowing God is in control and that he loves us should lead us to look for his loving hand even in our suffering. If you are facing difficulty right now, as a Christian, you may not fully understand what God is doing, but during it, you can look for the work of grace in your heart. No one seemed to understand this better than the Puritans. Below are four spiritual advantages of affliction, as summarized by Thomas Watson.
1. Affliction shows us more of our own hearts.
Water in a glass looks clear but set it on the fire, and the scum boils up! Just so, when God sets us upon the fire, corruption boils up, which we did not discern before.
Sharp afflictions are to the soul as a soaking rain to the house; we do not know that there are holes in the roof until the shower comes, but then we see it drop down here and there.
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If we have no hunger for the word of God, and when we try to feed upon it, it is like ashes in our mouths, we are in trouble. If we can find more joy in an obscene Netflix series than a time of prayer and Bible reading, something is seriously amiss with our spiritual condition.

Many people think they have peace with God. Instead, their inner peace flows from a deceptive heart. There is a peace that passes all understanding, and it is one of the most blessed aspects of the Christian life. The foundation of this peace is the cross of Jesus, where our sins find forgiveness, and the wrath of God is satisfied. The moment we trust in the atoning work of Christ, we are at peace with God objectively. From there, that truth begins to give us peace subjectively as God sheds his love abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
The problem is many people believe they are at peace with God, but because of their sins, they are still at enmity with him. Though they experience no distress at the thought of God, it is not the peace of Christ they are experiencing. Scripture tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Here are six telltale signs of a deceptive inner peace.
1. Peace Without Joy in Jesus
If you find yourself at peace about your spiritual state before the Lord, but there is no joy in Christ Jesus, you are experiencing the ease of a deceitful heart. Jesus is the only source of peace with God. Our enmity with God is the result of our sinfulness, and only Jesus and his work on the cross can save us. Jesus is the only source of peace with God, and if we think we have peace but do not rejoice in him, we are deceiving ourselves.
2. Trusting in our Own Merit
We do not have peace with God when we think God approves of us because of our character or good deeds. This confidence in our goodness is a sure sign that we are experiencing the calm of a spiritually dead soul. Even if we claim the merits of the blood of Jesus but believe our justification in Christ is a mixture of his death and our works, scripture says we are lost.
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Jesus’ identity is bound up in the Word of God. He is the Word made flesh. The trustworthiness of the Bible is inextricably tied to the trustworthiness of Jesus. If the Word of God is not trustworthy, neither is Jesus, and if Jesus is not trustworthy, neither are the Scriptures. To follow Jesus, we must obey his word; they cannot be separated. Written Scripture, penned by the apostles and prophets, is the very Word of God. It is truthful, intelligible, sufficient, and authoritative. 

It seems everyone has a view of Scripture. Some think it is verbatim God’s Word to us. Others believe it is not the words themselves that are important; it is the experience we have while reading it. In other words, the true Word of God lies behind the text. Others believe it is a book merely written by men. Some will even say, “We follow Jesus, not the Bible.” With all these ideas floating around, asking how Jesus views Scripture seems wise. The first chapter of The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction by Mark D. Thompson does precisely that and gives us ten truths Jesus holds about Scripture. I have summarized them below.
1. Scripture is the final authority in matters of faith and faithful living.
When Jesus faced temptation in the wilderness, he said, “It is written” each time before quoting Scripture. In doing this, he implies that Scripture settles any question at hand. He appeals to no authority in this situation other than the written Word of God, which decides the question in his mind.
The rich young ruler asks, “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds, “What is written in the law?” Jesus was not trying to mislead the young man; he pointed him where he could find the needed answer. During his ministry on this earth, Jesus appealed to Scripture as the final authority in matters related to faith and practice.
2. The written Scripture was the context for Jesus’ self-understanding and ministry.
Jesus reads Isaiah and says about himself, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). Jesus also saw himself in typology. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). At the Last Supper, he sees himself as the Passover lamb when he says, “This is my blood.”
Jesus saw the Old Testament Scripture as the context of who he was and what he came to do. If Scripture is not true, Jesus was deceived about who he was and, therefore, deceived others.
3. Jesus Identified Scripture as the “Word of God.”
In Mark 7:13, Jesus verbally identifies the written Old Testament Scriptures as God’s Word when he tells the Pharisees they were “making void the Word of God by your tradition.” Jesus did not believe it was merely a man-made book. The very words are the Words of God.
4. Jesus believed the “double agency” of Scripture.
As Jesus believed the scriptures are the Word of God, he also knew men wrote them. Jesus often used words like, “Moses wrote of me.” “David himself says in the Psalms.” “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you.” Jesus believed the “Word of God” was written through human agency, and the one does not diminish the other.
5. Jesus believed Scripture was intelligible.
Jesus expects people to know and understand what Scripture says. He would critique those in error by saying, “Have you not read.” He expects people to read his Word and understand what it is saying. Sure, some passages are more complex than others, and some finer points may take years of study, but the basic message of Scripture is not hard to understand.
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