Some lives are harder than others. They just are. Nothing is “fair” and things do not even out.
Most of us today live in an age of antibiotics and vaccines for childhood diseases. We have clean drinking water, pasteurized milk, and more food than we can eat. Many parents will never bury a child. Those of us in the United States have never seen battles in our cities, the bombing of our homes, and the mass deaths wrought by global wars. Many work white-collar jobs in the air-conditioning, and rarely more than eight hours a day. We think an interruption of our cellphone service or WiFi is a major problem. A car repair is an unbearable inconvenience.
Reflecting on the incredible state of modern life, Comedian Louis C.K. says, “Everything is amazing and nobody is happy.”[1] We forget that those of us born in the modern world with first-world conveniences have won the lottery—our lives are easier than everyone’s in history.
But again, life is not fair and things do not always even out. God often asks his children to walk a difficult road. Some are sent to war. Some to the mission field. Some suffer with diseases, a bad marriage, or other problems.
Sometimes it just feels like bad luck, like Nothing ever goes right for ME. Or worse,
I’ve served God faithfully for years and STILL nothing ever goes right for ME.
Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch felt that way. For over twenty years the man wrote down every word of Jeremiah’s preaching. Working for Jeremiah meant sharing Jeremiah’s grief. It meant being hated by all the people who hated Jeremiah. And it meant not pursuing whatever other dreams Baruch might have had. He grew frustrated. Baruch grew frustrated and complained. I’m not sure it was a prayer; he may have simply complained to himself. But God heard him. Here is what Baruch said:
“Woe is me now! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am worn out with groaning and find no rest” Jeremiah 45:3.
God gave Jeremiah a message to pass on to Baruch:
“Thus saith the Lord, ‘I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the earth. Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people. But wherever you go, I will let you escape with your life” Jeremiah 45:4-5.
God did not offer Baruch a great deal of comfort. Why not? Is God not compassionate? He is. But Baruch is a grown man, and in my opinion, God is treating him like a man. Rather than offering Baruch a shoulder to cry on, God says in effect, Man up. The whole world is suffering under my wrath. You do not live in a time of ease and comfort. But I will give you this promise: you will survive.
Sometimes I think selfishly. There are things I want but do not have. I have dreams I may not achieve. I have experienced a lifetime of amazing things, yet often find myself thinking of things I have not experienced. My thoughts can be self-centered and childish. And yes, sometimes I even dabble in the sin of comparison, wishing my life was more like someone else’s:
“Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art or that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least….”[2]
The truth is, everyone is discontented sometimes. What can you do?
(1) First, remember that a first-world life in an age of modern medicine puts you miles in front of most of the people who ever lived on earth. Our lives are longer, healthier, and packed with more creature-comforts than all the richest kings of Europe. You have to know you are winning. Never stop being grateful for that!
(2) Second, practice gratitude and contentment. Trust God like Baruch needed to do. Accept your role, your gifts, and whatever life God has given you. Be content in who you are and again—BE GRATEFUL. Practice gratitude every single day.
(3) Finally, never lose your eternal perspective. Because this life is NOT your story. This is not all there is. This is the messy back side of God’s amazing tapestry. In heaven you will flip it over and see His wisdom in every stitch, every moment of your life. From that perspective, from the view of HEAVEN, YOUR REAL HOME, you will be overwhelmed with gratitude for all that God has done.
“The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the joy that is coming in heaven” Romans 8:18.
AΩ
[1] Check out Louis CK’s hilarious insights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFB7q89_3U
[2] William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29 “When, in Disgrace With Fortune and Men’s Eyes.”
***Once again, I heartily recommend HEAVEN: YOUR REAL HOME, by Joni Eareckson Tada.
*** Jeremiah ALSO complained to God about how hard his life was. The weeping prophet goes so far as to curse the day he was born. He even resolves to stop preaching, but God’s word “was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and I was weary of holding it in” see Jeremiah 20:7-18. https://dadsdailydevotionals.com/2025/05/02/the-weeping-prophet-curses-his-birthday-but-maintains-hope-jeremiah/
Household Words: 