This Year Could Be Your Hardest Ever

It dawned on me recently that no one has ever had a pain-free year.

In fact, I have never met a single person who said, “That was the greatest year of my life. I wish I could‘ve stayed there forever.” Nope. Not one. Maybe they exist somewhere, I'm just saying I've never met one. This is because usually when someone wants to go back to the “good ol’ days,” it’s because they’re juxtaposing it against the current days. The hard days. Not because the “good ol’ days” were actually the “good ol’ days.” They seldom are…even if they’re remembered that way (Ecclesiastes 7:10).

Instead, every January, I meet and talk to people who are eager to wipe the slate clean and start again. Like most of us, they begin each New Year hoping it will be better than the last. And so every trip around the sun, we find ourselves repeating the same cycle of anticipated and unmet expectations.

King Solomon, the writer of my favorite book of the Bible, once observed that history has a way of repeating itself, that nothing under the sun is truly new (Ecclesiastes 1:9). He seems to be acknowledging that every year is hard in some way. Every year falls short of our expectations. Every year brings twists and turns that you could not have predicted, no matter how prepared you thought you were.

But what if this year you could know?

What if you could know ahead of time how hard this year would be? Not just that it would be difficult, but exactly how difficult. What if you could see the betrayals, the losses, the health scares, the financial strain, the unexpected pain, and the moments that would change you forever? Not to stop them (because you can't), but to prepare yourself for them. How might that affect your posture heading into the New Year?

Well, that question is not hypothetical for my family.

It just so happens that my wife and I know that this year will be the hardest year we have ever faced. Many in our church know that our son Tyler has reached a stage where his body can no longer withstand repeated hospitalizations and recurrent infections. A few months ago, we made the most painful decision imaginable. We decided that his most recent hospitalization would be his last. When his next infection occurs (and it will), we will transition him to comfort care through hospice.

And so now we wait.

We do not know the day or the hour. But we do know what is coming. And knowing that has forced me to wrestle with one question, in particular. That even when a year is hard, or even the hardest, does that mean it cannot be good? Are hard and good mutually exclusive to the Christian? This question is especially poignant in a world that measures goodness by comfort or by certain outcomes.

So follow my logic...

If every year is hard in some way, and no one is exempt, then why aren't we better prepared? Why aren't we ready for it? Mike Tyson famously once quipped, "Everyone has plan until they get punched in the mouth." Maybe we should start preparing to get punched in the mouth? The Apostle Peter puts it this way:

1 Peter 4:12 — Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

Here's the big idea: you need to prepare for tomorrow's pain, today. Which probably leads you to the next question: "How do I do that? What, exactly, does that look like?" I'm glad you asked. I thought that might be a worth-while exploration for the remainder of this article. An exploration that I am forcing myself to go through, knowing what this year has in store. And here’s what I’ve come up with…

Here are three helpful postures that will prepare you for any New Year, no matter what it might throw at you.

Suffering, in and of itself, is never good. But it can be redeemed and repurposed for good things by a good God. The book of James is a reminder that life’s trials will always test your faith. Like a pop-quiz no one saw coming, if you have to take it, you might as well give it all you've got. Over time, testing makes you a more durable person.

This growth process is all part of how God uses your pain for good (James 1:2–4). Growth doesn't come in spite of pain, it often comes through it. "No pain, no gain" may seem like a cliché, but it's nonetheless a true one.

Joseph’s story is a powerful example. Betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten in prison, Joseph lost years of his life to circumstances he did not choose. Yet God was quietly at work in every chapter. When Joseph eventually stood before the very brothers who betrayed him, he was able to say that what they intended for harm, God used for good (Genesis 50:20).

Did you catch that? Hard and good are not mutually exclusive.

Joseph did not understand God’s plan while he was living it. He understood it by looking back on it. Hard years have a way of teaching you good things. The kind of things that the easy years couldn't have. The alternative is that the hard things are wasted. Pointless. Whereas God wants to redeem them, turning your pain into a great teacher if you allow it.

So will you be prepared to learn?

Pain is never part of my plan. In fact, my life rarely unfolds the way I intended. Yet, none of it is a surprise to God. The book of Proverbs is constantly trying to remind me that while I am making plans, goals, and resolutions for the New Year, God knows how it will actually turn out (Proverbs 16:9). In other words, life will always disrupt my plans. But sometimes, those disruptions are necessary course corrections that God allows.

The Apostle Paul experienced this firsthand. He carefully planned where he would preach next, only to be stopped repeatedly. Doors he expected to open remained closed. But the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit was redirecting him. What seemed like delay ultimately led Paul into new territory where the gospel spread in ways he never imagined (Acts 16:6–10).

Faith is not stubbornly clinging to a particular plan. Faith is prayerfully trusting God enough to pivot when He leads you somewhere you did not anticipate. When things get hard, it sometimes requires you to release the life you imagined in order to live the life God is actually giving.

So will you be prepared to change your plans?

At the heart of every painful season is the issue of trust. Will you trust God only when an outcome makes sense, or will you trust Him in spite of the outcome?

Abraham’s story reminds us that trust often comes before understanding. Often God only provides enough information to take another step of obedience. Abraham followed God into an unknown future, holding promises he could not yet see fulfilled. Later, he was asked to surrender the very thing those promises were built upon. Abraham did not have clarity about how God would work things out. What he had was confidence in who God is and in His demonstrated faithfulness over time (Hebrews 11:8–12).

Trusting God does not mean proceeding with blind faith. No, faith is meant to be informed and measured. It is built on what God has already revealed about Himself in our lives and the lives of other Christians. His faithfulness in the past ought to steady you in the present and give you hope for the future. Over and over again, the Bible is pleading with you to remember who God has been so you can trust Him with what you cannot yet see (Hebrews 11:1).

Trust, then, is not in outcomes. It is not in timelines. It is not in understanding how everything will resolve. Your trust is in the character and nature of God. A God who has proven Himself good, faithful, and near, even in seasons of suffering.

The Bible calls you to trust the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding, believing that He will direct your path even when it is unclear (Proverbs 3:5–6). That kind of trust does not remove the pain, but it does give you something solid to stand on while enduring it.

For my family, trusting God does not mean pretending this year will be easy. It means choosing to believe that God will be working for my good even if I cannot change what is coming. It means trusting that none of it will be wasted and all of it will be redeemed when measured within Kingdom economics.

So will you be prepared to trust God?

This year might be hard for you. In fact, it might be your hardest year ever. But that doesn't mean it won't be good.

Romans 8:28 — And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

The Bible never promises easy years. What it promises is a good God. And His character will remain the same with the incoming tide and the rising of the sea. This is because His plans are shaped by love, even when those plans are hidden from view. The Bible is clear: God is good and His faithful love endures, even in seasons of sorrow (Lamentations 3:31–33).

There are years when God’s goodness is easy to see. And there are years when it must be trusted more than felt. But faith has always lived in that space. Trusting that God is at work for good, not because everything is good, but because He is (Romans 8:28).

Yes, this year might be really, really hard. But it can still be very, very good. And that's because God is good. Your part is to be prepared: to learn, to pivot, and to trust. 

I, for one, have a lot of preparing to do. You probably do too...