God’s parenting method doesn’t shield us from adversity and the character it builds. If we succeed in our avoidance, we’ll develop in ourselves and our children the sort of character we least admire. And yet we do everything we can to avoid challenges, both to our children and to ourselves. Let’s be honest: virtually everyone who has suffered little in life is shallow, unmotivated, self-absorbed, and lacking in character. He considered three things inseparable: suffering, kingdom, and patient endurance in Christ.

The apostle wrote, “I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9). Whatever costs nothing is worthless, but whatever is worthwhile costs a great deal. Without obstacles, we cannot build strength, whether in the physical or spiritual realms. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:3).Įvery athletic champion will tell you that excellence comes out of disciplined training-and all training centers on resistance. The Bible says of the righteous man, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. This tree has all the nourishment it needs. It lies at the lower part of our property, where the water sinks deep into the soil. In contrast, many protected and untested trees have long since fallen. It has lost many thick limbs, but others have grown, and harsh circumstances have made it stronger. I’ve taken pictures of my preschool daughters in that tree, and now of their children, my grandsons.

Several times in the thirty years we’ve lived here, I thought it would fall. In our side yard a tree has survived ice storms, heavy snows, and howling winds.

In my book If God Is Good, I talk about how the suffering and trials we face-the hard things-are steep hills that increase our spiritual lung capacity resistance builds our endurance. I’ve been in an email loop with Alex and Brett, and it’s wonderful to see God’s grace in their lives. Recently they posted a great follow-up, talking about their lives over a decade after the publication of Do Hard Things: (Here’s a powerful article we shared a few years ago from Ana, Brett’s wife, no stranger to suffering.) I love these two young men, and the wonderful wives God has given them. I keep in touch with Brett and Alex, and I followed up with a blog in 2015 talking about how both of them were continuing to do hard things.

Alex harris brett harris