You may have experienced the sting of a betrayal or the disappointment of loss in your life. It could be something small or something quite significant. Maybe it was an injustice carried out by a friend, spouse or co-worker. You may have overheard something you weren't intended to hear or discovered an untruth. Perhaps you were passed over for a promised promotion or left by someone who said they would always love you. Maybe it was hurtful words spoken by a parent or loved one.

Maybe it seems like your life is riddled with one problem after another. You find yourself going in circles, trying to keep everything afloat, only to have something else break down or someone else get sick. The issues you are facing may be causing you to doubt God's goodness or His plans for your life. You may wonder why life isn't easier when you have committed to knowing Jesus.

We want to believe that knowing Christ somehow protects us from the sins of others and the sorrows of living in a fallen world. However, God has given us the free will to choose to do what is right or wrong. Each day we wake is an opportunity to decide how we will respond to life's challenges. That, unfortunately, also means that others' bad choices can hurt us.

However, holding onto emotional pain and baggage weighs us down. Focusing on our challenges, problems and hurts keeps our eyes off Jesus. It causes us to meditate on those things that are finite. We live in a fallen, sinful world full of spiritual warfare and the attacks of Satan. We cannot find lasting happiness on earth. But in eternity, we will be an heir and co-heir with Christ for all of eternity. We will have an infinite supply of everything we need. Our physical bodies will not limit us. There will be no pain, no suffering, shame or disappointment. Just imagine that!

Revelation 7: 15-17 says, "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

God wants all to come to Him. He desires that none perish, so while you are here on earth, you have an essential responsibility to share His love with others so that they, too, will come to know Him. He created you with specific gifts and talents that you can use to serve Him.

In the book of Luke, we are told that Jesus heals an entirely bent-over woman. She had an illness that made it impossible for her to stand upright. This poor woman had gone through much of her life looking at the dirt, ground, and trash around her because she couldn't lift her head. So can you imagine what she must have felt when Christ healed her, and she could look up at the blue sky and into the faces of her loved ones? What gratitude she must have felt towards Christ!

Likewise, when we focus on the garbage in our lives, the dirt of our past, and the trash that has happened to us, we forget to look to Jesus, our future, and our eternity.

We are not promised an easy life while on earth. However, we are promised an eternity beyond all imagination with Christ. And we are promised that Jesus will be with us through all our struggles.

Psalm 56:8 says You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

God loves you so much that He knows how many times you toss and turn and collects your tears in a bottle.

Romans 8:15-17 says: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

How wonderful is that? We are the children of God, His heirs. He loved us so much that He sent His Only Son to take the punishment for our sins. If God has already given us His most precious gift, His Son, Jesus, who is of infinite value, then how much more will God bless us in eternity?

So, what can we learn from Romans? 

Whatever you are going through, God is with you. His power will enable you to withstand the trials and difficulties this world throws you. In addition, God's Holy Spirit is always with us, providing comfort and guidance. As heirs of Christ, we will share in the inheritance of eternity. However, while we are on earth, we will have suffering. Through trials and pain, we grasp to a small degree what Christ suffered for us when He died for our sins on the cross. Not only that but each challenge and trial produces fruit in our lives, from endurance to perseverance. The difficulties actually help us grow and become the men and women God desires us to be.

Romans 5:3-5 tells us that, Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

How do we keep going when life is hard?

So how do we navigate life's difficulties? 

• Look to the Lord. Lift your eyes from your problems and to Christ. He desires to be a part of your life. He wants to take your burdens. So talk to Him in prayer.
• Trust God and live life according to His Word, even when life is confusing, complicated, and unfair.
• Remember that God paid the price for each of us, shedding His blood for our sins. Through Him, we can have a new life.
• Give God control of your life, asking Him to help you overcome destructive habits and sinful behavior.
• Rest in Jesus, asking Him to help you work through those things that cause stress, anxiety, and worry.
• Pray God's Word and focus on it. When struggles and trials come, remember you have the Holy Spirit living within you. Quote Scripture out loud, memorizing God's Word.
• Remember that this earth is not your home. One day, you will stand face to face with your beautiful Savior. Until then, trust Him for each day.

1 Peter 5:10 says, And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Finally, remember that every aspect of your life is in God's hands. He is working on your behalf and will bring good out of every difficulty you face. He desires to give each of us life. There will be a time when pain, suffering, hurt, betrayal, and everything painful will be over and done. No more. Until that day, we trust God, praying and staying close to Him and His ways.