Going Through The School Of Hard Knocks

In the marvelous musical comedy entitled “Annie,” the opening scene portrays Annie in an orphanage where girls are forced to clean and scrub in the middle of the night. Expressing their feelings of helplessness, they sing these words:

“It’s the hard-knock life for us. No one cares for you a smidge when you’re in an orphanage. It’s the hard-knock life.“

When we talk about going through “the school of hard knocks,” we’re referring to the difficult experiences in life that have instructed us. Although it’s part of human nature to avoid pain, as Christians, we can learn and grow from painful and difficult circumstances.

The Psalmist wisely said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Psalm 119:71). His difficult experience was the slander of his good name (Psalm 119:69-70). Yet even in this difficult time, the Psalmist realized that his circumstances could teach him to value the Word of God.

Whatever problems we are facing today, let’s hand them over to the Lord in prayer (1 Peter 5:6-7; 1 John 5:14-15; cf. Psalm 37:5; Psalm 55:22). Then meditate on the Scriptures (Psalm 1:1-3; cf. Psalm 119:1-2), thanking God for the life lessons we are about to learn (Psalm 136:1).

The Lord of heaven and earth is sovereign — yes, even over “the school of hard knocks.”

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets