Do Hard Things: Why Faithfulness Is Worth the Effort
Comfort can't tell us which choice is right. Examine the responsibility, receive help where needed, and be willing to do a difficult good for the Lord and others.
#26 — Do Hard Things
Apr 18, 2019
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Comfort is a poor compass
We rarely announce a decision to become less faithful. We can still drift that way through repeated choices to postpone whatever feels uncomfortable. An uncomfortable conversation can wait until another day. A difficult responsibility can be handed to someone else. A good habit can begin next week. None of these decisions may appear dramatic, but together they can create a life organized around avoiding discomfort.
Doing hard things doesn't mean seeking pain or accepting every demanding request. It means refusing to let difficulty alone decide whether a worthwhile duty receives attention. Some difficult tasks are unnecessary, and some demands are harmful or beyond our responsibilities. But difficulty itself isn't evidence that something is wrong. Often the things most worth doing require time, persistence, patience, and the willingness to feel inadequate while we learn.
Think about the ordinary courage required by parenting, friendship, and service. Those responsibilities can't wait for every inconvenient feeling to disappear. We need a better measure than ease. We need to ask whether the work is right, whether it serves others, and whether it belongs to us.
First, move beyond the familiar
Familiar routines can give life useful stability. They become restrictive when avoiding an inexperienced appearance matters more than a chance to serve. There is nothing wrong with that. The danger comes when familiarity becomes the limit of what we are willing to attempt. A Christian can become so determined to avoid looking inexperienced that opportunities to grow or help others are repeatedly refused.
Hebrews 11 shows faith responding to God without knowing every turn ahead. Abraham's particular call shouldn't be confused with every uncertain choice we face. But the account makes clear that faithful obedience can't always be measured by immediate comfort.
Your next courageous step may be an apology or a fitting offer to help. It doesn't need to produce a dramatic story to deserve doing. The purpose isn't to acquire a dramatic story about bravery. It is to refuse to let the fear of awkwardness keep us from doing something genuinely worthwhile.
Second, do more than the minimum
Sensible limits protect responsibilities we can't abandon. But always asking for the least possible contribution can reveal a desire to escape more than a desire to serve. Nobody can accept every request. But the habit of always seeking the minimum can reveal a heart more interested in escaping responsibility than serving well. Love often asks a different question: “What good might I actually be able to accomplish?”
Paul describes the Macedonians' willing generosity in 2 Corinthians 8:1–5. Their response should encourage devotion without becoming pressure for irresponsible financial promises. Their example isn't an excuse to pressure anyone into irresponsible financial decisions. It shows that real devotion can express itself in unexpected generosity when people freely choose to serve.
That willing spirit can reach attention, preparation, and practical service too. Ask what useful good you can offer rather than what impressive sacrifice others will notice. Prepare thoughtfully for an assignment. Offer practical help instead of a passing expression of sympathy when you have the ability to act. The aim isn't to impress an audience or prove that we can exhaust ourselves. It is to discover what willing service can look like when love, rather than the bare minimum, guides the decision.
Third, work with other people
Hard work doesn't require doing every part alone. Refusing help may weaken both the task and the relationships that need your attention. We can become convinced that asking for help would diminish the value of our effort. Meanwhile, the work suffers, our closest relationships receive less attention, and other willing people have no opportunity to contribute.
Exodus 18 shows Jethro questioning the load Moses was carrying. Shared responsibility was wiser than celebrating an arrangement that couldn't continue. Moses still has serious work to do, but capable others can help carry the load. The passage honors wise administration rather than celebrating needless exhaustion.
A demanding season may need someone to coordinate and others to contribute. Let willing people help instead of treating exhaustion as proof of faithfulness. Sharing responsibility isn't an admission of failure. It is often what allows a hard but worthwhile task to continue long enough to bear fruit.
Fourth, look farther than today
Some good takes time to become visible. Patient teaching or careful learning can matter even when one day's effort brings little encouragement. A student learns material that may become useful years later. A Christian patiently develops the ability to understand Scripture. These experiences can feel unrewarding when measured only by the emotion of the present day.
Galatians 6:9 calls us not to weary in doing good. Keep its spiritual purpose rather than turning the harvest into a prediction for every personal undertaking. It does teach us to think beyond the fatigue of a single moment and to persist in what is good.
Consider what repeated effort is helping you become. Dependability or patient care may be growing before a dramatic result appears. Is a relationship being strengthened through consistent kindness? Are you making decisions your future self and others may be grateful for? A long view can make a difficult choice more intelligible. The burden may remain real, but its purpose becomes clearer.
Fifth, be willing to look different
Sometimes the difficulty comes from being seen to make a different choice. Honesty or refusal to join cruelty can feel uncomfortable precisely because others are watching. You resist a cruel joke when everyone else is laughing. You refuse to let entertainment crowd out a responsibility. The discomfort comes from being visibly different.
Jesus' pictures of salt and light direct good works toward the Father's glory. Difference isn't something to perform for attention. Christian distinctiveness matters when our conduct reflects the character and teaching of Jesus rather than the shifting standards around us.
Faithfulness may be quiet and courteous while remaining firm. You can refuse gossip without claiming to know every speaker's motives. You can respect others without surrendering your convictions. You can decline an unhealthy practice without assuming everyone who makes a different choice has evil motives. The goal isn't to win applause for being different. It is to be faithful whether our decisions attract notice or not.
The right kind of hard thing
Jesus' call to take up the cross in Luke 9:23 reaches deeper than an annoying chore. Still, discipleship leaves no promise that we may refuse all discomfort. At the same time, a commitment to follow Christ can't coexist with an unqualified promise never to accept discomfort. Love and obedience may require choices we wouldn't naturally prefer.
Before accepting a hard task, examine whether it's right and belongs to you. Consider the people it serves, existing duties, and any help that could make it sustainable. Is it truly yours to do? Will it serve someone? Does it conflict with responsibilities you already have? Could wiser planning or shared work make it sustainable? Determination becomes far more useful when joined to humility and discernment. Not every burden deserves to be carried, and help isn't a sign of weakness.
Then begin the faithful action you've identified. Comfort can be a real desire without receiving the final vote over what's right. Begin the important work. Resist the tempting shortcut. Keep serving even when the results come slowly. A wonderful day doesn't have to be an easy day. Sometimes its greatest worth lies in knowing that, when something good required a real effort, comfort didn't have the final vote.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Which worthwhile responsibility am I avoiding chiefly because it feels uncomfortable?
- 02Where am I aiming for the bare minimum when love invites something more?
- 03Who could share an important burden with me so that the work becomes sustainable?
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