ManTalk

Going Through Hard Times?

Written By

BBI

Published On

February 16, 2026

"Hard times are inevitable, but they are not wasted. Every man faces hard times. Discover God’s purpose in trials and learn how suffering shapes character, faith, and spiritual maturity. Learn how God uses suffering, misses, and setbacks to shape character and prepare you for greater purpose"

EVERY man will face hard times.

Whether it is a painful divorce, a betrayal by a friend, a job loss, financial pressure, rejection, sickness, or ministry disappointment—no one is exempt.

Hard times are not a matter of "if" but "when. " They are a certainty.

Jesus made it clear in John 16:33:

“In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Notice—He did not say you might. He said you will.

The question is not whether you will face hardship. The question is: What will hardship produce in you?

Hard Times Are a Biblical Pattern

Throughout Scripture, every man God used went through intense trials.

Joseph: Betrayed Before Promoted

Joseph was given a dream—but before the palace came the pit.

He was:

Betrayed by his brothers
Sold into slavery
Falsely accused
Imprisoned

Genesis 50:20 records Joseph’s mature conclusion:

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

Hardship shaped Joseph’s character. The prison prepared him for leadership. The betrayal taught him forgiveness. The waiting season formed integrity.

Without the pit, there would have been no palace.

David: Anointed Before Tested

David was anointed king as a young man (1 Samuel 16), yet he spent years running from Saul.

He endured:

Rejection
Threats on his life
Isolation in caves
Public humiliation

Psalm 66:10 says:

“For You, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver.”

The wilderness developed David into a worshipper and a warrior. His suffering deepened his dependence on God.

Before he wore the crown, he learned how to kneel.

Daniel: Faithful Under Pressure

Daniel was taken captive into Babylon.

He faced:

Cultural pressure
Political hostility
The threat of death

Daniel 6 shows him thrown into the lions’ den—not for wrongdoing, but for faithfulness.

Trials revealed Daniel’s integrity. Pressure exposed his devotion. The den became the platform for God’s glory.

The Three Hebrew Boys: Refusing Compromise

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a fiery furnace (Daniel 3) because they refused to bow.

They declared:

“Our God is able to deliver us… but even if He does not, we will not serve your gods.”

Sometimes hardship is the price of obedience.

The fire did not destroy them—it burned off what bound them.

Job: Losing Everything, Gaining Depth

Job lost:

His children
His wealth
His health
His reputation

Yet in Job 42:5 he said:

“My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You.”

Suffering gave Job a deeper revelation of God.

Hard times often strip away superficial faith and reveal authentic relationship.

Jesus: The Ultimate Example of Suffering

If suffering meant God had abandoned you, then what do we do with Jesus?

Isaiah 53:3 describes Him as:

“A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.”

Hebrews 5:8 says:

“Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Even Jesus walked through rejection, betrayal, injustice, physical pain, and abandonment.

The cross looked like defeat—but it was God’s greatest victory.

Suffering was not the end of the story. Resurrection followed.

Paul: Hardship as a Classroom

The apostle Paul endured:

Beatings
Imprisonment
Shipwreck
Betrayal
Persecution

In 2 Corinthians 4:16–17 he wrote:

“Therefore we do not lose heart… For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Paul understood something powerful: hardship works for us, not against us.

Why Hard Times Are Necessary

Hard times are not random. They are formative.

They reshape:

Character
Values
Perspective
Faith
Dependence on God

Comfort rarely produces transformation. Pressure does.

Romans 5:3–4 explains the progression:

“We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Suffering produces what ease never can.

Real-Life Hardships Men Face Today

Modern trials may look different from biblical ones, but they cut just as deep:

A painful divorce
A business collapse
Ministry rejection
A public fall
Job loss
Family conflict
Financial crisis
Childlessness

These moments shake identity.

But they also expose foundations.

When everything else is stripped away, what remains?

Hard times reveal whether our identity is rooted in status, income, reputation—or in God.

Discovering God’s Purpose in Trials

Hard times are not punishment for believers—they are preparation.

Here are five purposes God often works through trials:

1. To Refine Character

Gold is purified in fire.

God uses hardship to remove pride, selfishness, and false dependencies.

2. To Realign Priorities

Trials expose misplaced values.
They teach us what truly matters—God, family, integrity.

3. To Deepen Dependence

When self-sufficiency collapses, reliance on God increases.

Psalm 119:71 says:

“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.”

4. To Strengthen Faith

Faith grows when tested.

Unchallenged faith remains shallow. Tested faith becomes resilient.

5. To Prepare for Greater Assignment

Joseph could not lead Egypt without first enduring prison.

David could not shepherd Israel without first facing Goliath and caves.

Your trial may be training for future influence.

Becoming the Man God Wants You to Be

Hard times shape men.

They either harden you or humble you.

They either make you bitter or better.

The difference lies in response.

To become the man God wants you to be:

Choose faith over fear
Choose obedience over bitterness
Choose growth over blame
Choose surrender over pride

Hardship invites maturity.

James 1:2–4 says:

“Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials… because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking

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Common Questions

Being born again secures your salvation—your sins are forgiven, and you belong to Christ. You don’t need deliverance to be saved.

However, even as a believer, you can still struggle with patterns, strongholds, or spiritual oppression from the past. Deliverance isn’t about salvation; it’s about applying Jesus’ freedom to those areas. If you experience ongoing struggles, prayer, renunciation, and pastoral support can help you walk fully in the liberty Christ has already won for you.
Breaking a generational curse, in a religious sense, is seen as a spiritual journey of repentance, faith, and deliberate action. It begins with acknowledging sin—both one’s own and, in some beliefs, the lingering effects of ancestors’ wrongdoing—and turning away from it through heartfelt repentance and prayer. This recognition is often accompanied by a conscious renunciation of the curse, verbally declaring that one no longer accepts the negative patterns or misfortunes that may have been passed down through the family line.

Faith plays a central role in this process. Believers rely on the power of God to intervene, heal, and restore, trusting that divine authority can break spiritual strongholds that have persisted for generations. Prayer, sometimes accompanied by fasting, Scripture reading, or intercession from spiritual leaders, is used to call on God’s guidance and protection.
When we receive salvation, our spirit is redeemed immediately. Our sins are forgiven, we are justified, and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 1:13–14). Salvation restores our relationship with God and secures eternal life.

However, the curses or effects of sin in the world—sickness, generational patterns, fear, poverty, or emotional wounds—are not always broken automatically. The reason is that while our spirit is saved, our body, mind, and circumstances still exist in a fallen world under the consequences of sin (Romans 8:20–22).
If you struggle with something but generally overcome it, it is not necessarily a spirit. The Bible shows that even faithful believers wrestle with sin and weakness—Paul himself admitted in Romans 7:15–20 that he struggled to do what was right even as he desired to obey God. A true “spirit” or demonic stronghold is usually characterized by persistent, overpowering opposition that cannot be resisted through prayer, Scripture, and obedience.

If you are able to resist, repent, and grow despite the struggle, it is more likely an area God is using to refine your character and strengthen your faith. Struggles can reveal patterns in our lives that need God’s grace, teaching us dependence on Him, humility, and perseverance. Victory is not about perfection; it is about continuing to walk in obedience, relying on God’s Word, and trusting His Spirit to lead you forward.
Yes, according to Scripture, the human spirit can be influenced, but it’s important to be precise about what that means. The Bible teaches that we are spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The “spirit man” is the part of us that connects with God, discerns spiritual truths, and communes with Him (John 4:24; Romans 8:16).

A demonic spirit cannot possess the spirit of a born-again believer because the Holy Spirit indwells them (1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 John 4:4). The Spirit of God protects and fills the spirit man, so it cannot be taken over. However, the spirit man can be influenced or oppressed by external spiritual forces if there is neglect, unrepented sin, or agreement with lies, which can affect our thoughts, emotions, and will.

Satan and his spirits can tempt, deceive, and oppress, but they cannot inhabit the spirit of someone truly born again. That’s why Scripture emphasizes guarding your heart and mind, staying in God’s Word, and walking in obedience—this keeps your spirit man aligned with God and resistant to attack (Ephesians 6:10–18; James 4:7).
consequences of sin, wrongdoing, or negative behavior can extend beyond an individual and affect their descendants. In this context, a generational curse is not merely about inherited traits or family patterns in a psychological sense, but rather a spiritual or moral consequence passed down through family lines.

For example, the Bible mentions in several passages, such as Exodus 20:5 and Numbers 14:18, that the sins of the parents can affect their children “to the third and fourth generation.” This is often interpreted to mean that unrepented sin or disobedience to God can create spiritual or circumstantial burdens like poverty, addiction, illness, or relational strife that may continue to manifest in subsequent generations.

Religious teachings often emphasize that generational curses are not inevitable. Through repentance, prayer, faith, and obedience to God, it is believed that individuals can break these curses and restore spiritual blessings to themselves and their descendants. In Christian practice, this might involve confession, seeking deliverance through prayer, or living a life aligned with God’s commandments to end the cycle of negative spiritual influence.
Feeling anger is not automatically a “spirit.” Anger is a natural emotion that God Himself expresses in certain circumstances (Exodus 32:10; Psalm 7:11). What matters is how you handle it. If you feel angry but do not act in sin, controlling your words, thoughts, and actions, this is not a demonic spirit—it is a natural human response being managed in obedience to God.

A spirit of anger in Scripture refers to a persistent, controlling, or destructive force that dominates a person’s behavior (Ephesians 4:26–27 warns against letting anger give the devil a foothold). If your anger arises but you remain calm, forgive, and do not allow it to control you, it is simply an emotion, not a spirit.
When faced with temptation, there are times to run and times to resist, and Scripture gives clear guidance.

You run from sin when it is dangerous, seductive, or beyond your natural ability to resist. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee fornication.” You remove yourself from the source of temptation—whether it’s a place, a person, or an opportunity—because staying there puts your soul at risk. Running is not cowardice; it is obedience and wisdom.

You resist when you are confronted with pressure or attack that you can face through God’s power. James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Resisting means standing firm in faith, speaking Scripture, and relying on the Holy Spirit. This is active confrontation, not passive endurance.

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