Is life supposed to be hard? This question has been on my mind lately. I was listening to a motivational snippet from Alex Hermozi owner of Acquisitions.com, and something he said struck me deeply: If God wanted to create a tough person, He wouldn’t allow you to live an easy life. If He wanted you to become patient, He wouldn’t give you everything you want immediately.
Those words resonated because, like many of us, I sometimes feel like the only one dealing with pressure. Social media doesn’t help—so many images of “perfect lives” make us feel like we’re falling short. We start thinking, If I try this thing or do that thing, I’ll finally live the dream—debt-free, traveling, and happy. But is that the goal? Is life even meant to be like that?
The Nature of Hardship
When I sit with the question—Is life supposed to be this hard?—I find that “hard” is relative. Hard for me, sitting here in America with first-world problems, looks very different from “hard” in other parts of the world. Some people don’t have food, water, or shelter. I have stress, debt, and responsibilities, but I also have immense blessings.
For me, this perspective is deeply biblical. Some of my favorite books in the Bible—Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes—offer wisdom on life’s challenges. They teach us to resist chasing fleeting happiness or personal truth and instead focus on following God’s will.
The 10 Commandments: Simple Yet Hard
God gave us ten simple rules to live by, but isn’t it amazing how easy it is to break them? When we step outside of God’s will, life often becomes harder—not because God punishes us, but because we lose alignment with His plan.
If your parents broke those commandments, you might be carrying their consequences. If you break them, your children might bear yours. Yet, the more you strive for a blameless life, the more likely you are to experience peace, truth, and even success.
This is where Jesus comes in. The Wisdom Books of the Old Testament show us the struggle; Jesus reveals the answer. Life isn’t meant to be about pleasing ourselves because pleasing the flesh leads us away from God. He said it’s harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle—not because wealth is evil, but because the love of wealth can replace our love for God.
Rooting Yourself in Faith
One of the Bible’s most compelling stories is Job’s. Here was a man tested in ways that make most of our struggles look minor. Satan believed Job only loved God because of his wealth and comfort, so God allowed everything to be taken away—his children, his possessions, even his health. And yet, Job remained faithful.
At the end of Job’s story, God restored everything to him tenfold. But what strikes me most is this: Job’s trials weren’t random. His suffering wasn’t meaningless. They served a purpose—to prove his faith and refine his spirit.
When we face hardships, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But often, our struggles stem from losing focus on God. When I lose sight of Him, I’m more likely to get caught up in my own stresses and miss the goodness that’s already in my life.
The Way Forward
Jesus warned us that life wouldn’t be easy. He said, I didn’t come to bring peace but a sword, turning family members and friends against one another. Why? Because following Him requires choosing God over everything else—even when it’s hard.
We’re in the midst of spiritual warfare. Some battles require prayer and fasting to overcome. Remember the story of the boy possessed by demons? The disciples couldn’t heal him, but Jesus did, explaining that some challenges need deeper spiritual discipline.
So, when life feels overwhelming, maybe it’s not about the circumstances themselves. Maybe it’s about whether we’re praying, fasting, and staying true to those ten simple rules.
Is Life Supposed to Be Hard?
The answer is relative. For someone with no basic necessities, life is unimaginably hard. For others, it’s the mental and emotional battles that weigh us down. But ultimately, life’s hardships often stem from our inability to keep God at the center.
Jesus is the way. He showed us that life isn’t meant to be easy—but it’s meant to be meaningful. When we focus on God, follow His commandments, and commit to prayer and fasting, we can find peace even in the hardest moments.
Let’s get to work.
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