The Old Testament tells the account of the lives of a pair of brothers: Jacob and Esau. Jacob, the younger brother, steals his brother’s birthright and flees the country to go into hiding. From that point forward, we see Jacob live through a difficult series of circumstances and challenges, eventually fathering 12 children, whose descendants become the Jewish people. The difficulties he faced were ridiculous; his life was downright difficult. Later in the Scriptures, God says that he loves Jacob, but he hates Esau. This rather extreme sounding statement is a Jewish phrasing that essentially means that God loved Jacob more than his brother. However, when we look at the accounts of their lives, Esau lives in comfort and is wealthy, while Jacob lives a difficult life, filled with hard work, danger, etc. Theres a bit of oddity there: The brother God prefers lives in difficulty and the other lives in wealth and ease. This runs contrary to what folks assume to be true about God: that if God loves us, he will give us ease and comfort, while difficulty is a sign of his lack of favor. This doesn’t prove to be true in the case of Jacob and Esau. The reason behind this phenomena can be found in Jacob’s story: Jacob means liar, and the name was appropriate. He gained most of his success in life though deception and trickery. After years of difficulty that resulted from his initial dishonest gain of his brother’s birthright, God changes Jacob’s name to Israel, which means “wrestles with God and prevails.” Through his difficulties and struggles, God changes Jacob completely. He makes him into a different man. This is very much the case for Jesus’ disciples. These were men who were friends of Jesus and dearly loved. All but one of them died in painful, difficult circumstances, after living in poverty, and having been alienated by their friends and loved ones. If we look at them from the point when Jesus met them to the ends of their lives, we see men who become deeper, more mature, and profound through the course of their lives. The challenges they faced were, in a way, a blessing. In difficulty, we can learn to find our strength in our relationship with God and rely on him to meet our needs. In comfort and ease, God is easily forgotten because we don’t need him to provide. It is one thing to obey and trust God when it doesn’t cost us anything, but trusting and obeying when it’s dangerous or uncomfortable is another matter altogether. Difficulty changes us by putting us in a position where we need God and must grow spiritually to endure it. This doesn’t mean that we should be flippant or dismissive in regards to pain. Rather, it means that we can look at hardship as something that we can learn from and grow through. God can change us through difficulty for the better. The start of this process is trusting and leaning on Him.
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