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Finding Hope in Hard Things: A Positive Take on Suffering
We all go through hard things. Do we miss the most important truth in the midst of them? In this book, the author argues that we usually do. Hard things are shaping things. In the difficult experiences we face, we can find the voice of a God who gave himself to hard things so that he could be with us in ours. We can always find hope in our hard things because we know that God will shape us through them in profound ways. In fact, hard things shape us in ways easy things can't. Join award-winning Christian writer Pierce Taylor Hibbs (author of Struck Down but Not Destroyed and Finding God in the Ordinary) as he walks through his father's early death, his anxiety disorder, and his struggles with self-doubt, showing how God shapes us in powerful ways through our hardest things. If you've been walking through hard things, you won't want to miss this powerful testament to the God who gives himself to us.
Endorsements
“We have come to expect the highest standards of Christian orthodoxy argued with remarkable clarity from Pierce Hibbs. Increasingly, though, his passion
about facing the tough parts of life with ultimate confidence bring a dimension with them impossible to fabricate. They come to us with unusual honesty. I don’t believe I know of any writings quite like his. Pastoral, practical and profoundly biblical, every Christian will be rewarded by these journeys into suffering and grace.” – William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary
“Hibbs’s writing—clear, crisp, and passionate—makes for an easy read. And yet behind that simplicity is a depth that comes from someone who has been in a ‘fellowship of Jesus’s suffering.’ When you meet a fellow traveler, like Pierce Taylor Hibbs, that has been through the valley of shadow of death, you want to sit down and listen. Hibbs will give you hope in the midst of your hard things.” – Paul E. Miller, best-selling author of A Praying Life and J-Curve
“There is redemptive beauty and meaning in the brokenness of this world. In the hard things, the really hard things, God speaks to us, and Pierce gives us the ears to hear.” – Roger Lowther, author of The Broken Leaf
“This is a case for suffering we need to consider. In his latest work, Finding Hope in Hard Things, Pierce Taylor Hibbs tackles the challenging reality of hardship in our lives. With biblical clarity and engaging experience, Hibbs writes winsomely about the positive side of suffering, while including personal pains, and how God shapes us by His grace—at times calling us to rejoice. Read this book and you will not only be encouraged and comforted, you will see and know the steadfast character of the One who stands with you in the hard things..” – Nathaniel Schill, Founder of Shepherd Apologetics
Reader Comments
Just like Pierce Taylor Hibbs's other books, this read was so encouraging and helpful as I navigate through the trials and struggles in my life. Pierce uses life experiences and scripture to reveal how God uses our struggles to draw is closer to His side. I gladly purchased several more to pass on to friends and family who have been going through hard things.
Poetic, honest and raw. The author shares deeply from his own experience and points readers to the depths of who God is and what he does for us in pain.
Pierce Taylor Hibbs not only packs his books with theological and doctrinal truths that are well explained and easy to understand, but also has a reading voice/writing style that is so inviting to his readers.
Through earnest, personal writing, supported
Endorsements
“We have come to expect the highest standards of Christian orthodoxy argued with remarkable clarity from Pierce Hibbs. Increasingly, though, his passion
about facing the tough parts of life with ultimate confidence bring a dimension with them impossible to fabricate. They come to us with unusual honesty. I don’t believe I know of any writings quite like his. Pastoral, practical and profoundly biblical, every Christian will be rewarded by these journeys into suffering and grace.” – William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary
“Hibbs’s writing—clear, crisp, and passionate—makes for an easy read. And yet behind that simplicity is a depth that comes from someone who has been in a ‘fellowship of Jesus’s suffering.’ When you meet a fellow traveler, like Pierce Taylor Hibbs, that has been through the valley of shadow of death, you want to sit down and listen. Hibbs will give you hope in the midst of your hard things.” – Paul E. Miller, best-selling author of A Praying Life and J-Curve
“There is redemptive beauty and meaning in the brokenness of this world. In the hard things, the really hard things, God speaks to us, and Pierce gives us the ears to hear.” – Roger Lowther, author of The Broken Leaf
“This is a case for suffering we need to consider. In his latest work, Finding Hope in Hard Things, Pierce Taylor Hibbs tackles the challenging reality of hardship in our lives. With biblical clarity and engaging experience, Hibbs writes winsomely about the positive side of suffering, while including personal pains, and how God shapes us by His grace—at times calling us to rejoice. Read this book and you will not only be encouraged and comforted, you will see and know the steadfast character of the One who stands with you in the hard things..” – Nathaniel Schill, Founder of Shepherd Apologetics
Reader Comments
Just like Pierce Taylor Hibbs's other books, this read was so encouraging and helpful as I navigate through the trials and struggles in my life. Pierce uses life experiences and scripture to reveal how God uses our struggles to draw is closer to His side. I gladly purchased several more to pass on to friends and family who have been going through hard things.
Poetic, honest and raw. The author shares deeply from his own experience and points readers to the depths of who God is and what he does for us in pain.
Pierce Taylor Hibbs not only packs his books with theological and doctrinal truths that are well explained and easy to understand, but also has a reading voice/writing style that is so inviting to his readers.
Through earnest, personal writing, supported
Audible Audio
Published June 11, 2025
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About the author
Pierce Taylor Hibbs
31 books34 followersPierce Taylor Hibbs is a wordsmith who builds things to bring readers closer to God. He's the award-winning author of Theological English, and has also written more popular works on theology such as Finding God in the Ordinary, The Speaking Trinity, and Struck Down but Not Destroyed: Living Faithfully with Anxiety. Download free ebooks and resources from piercetaylorhibbs.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 10, 2022
I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars. It was so good! Excited to start reading other books by this author.
PTH gives three examples of how hard things in his life (his fathers death from cancer, his own anxiety, and persistent self-doubt) are all being used by God to shape him and remind him that suffering in this life is never purposeless or useless. Nothing is wasted. I highly recommend this book!!
PTH gives three examples of how hard things in his life (his fathers death from cancer, his own anxiety, and persistent self-doubt) are all being used by God to shape him and remind him that suffering in this life is never purposeless or useless. Nothing is wasted. I highly recommend this book!!
July 27, 2021
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
HARD THINGS ARE GOING TO SHAPE US IN WAYS EASY THINGS CAN'T
That's it, there's the book in a nutshell—that line and the quotation, there's the central premise of the book and the kind of way he presents it.
Hibbs focuses on three of the hard things he's faced in his life—the death of his father, his anxiety disorder, and his struggles with self-doubt. These case studies are just that, things that his readers can relate to, sympathize with, and find similarities in their lives. After that, Hibbs points to finding Christ and His purposes in the hard things, and that's where we find hope.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT FINDING HOPE IN HARD THINGS
I've talked about two of Hibbs's books here before— Finding God in the Ordinary and Struck Down but Not Destroyed: Living Faithfully with Anxiety . The former is a collection of essays about finding God in ordinary, minute things in life; the latter is a thoughtful and thorough look at how Hibbs has dealt with his Anxiety Disorder, and how the reader can apply these things to their own problems. This book combines the best of the two approaches to these books—we don't get a systematic look at suffering. Instead, we get essays based on his studies, based on his observations and thoughts.
I loved this approach, this style. Most books on suffering that I've read are meditations or studies on the relevant Psalms—maybe a passage or two from the Gospels or Epistles. Hibbs doesn't do that, he talks about where he is, where he's been, where his readers are/have been/will be. He's learned the lessons of those other books and now he's internalized them. He can meditate, muse, and reflect—and that's what these essays are.
As with his earlier book, these essays are wonderfully put together, a pleasure to read, even without the content.
On an episode of The West Wing, Leo McGarry tells a story:
I thought about that story a lot while reading this. Hibbs is that friend. He knows the way out of the hole—better yet, he understands why the hole is there and how it's used by God to make us into who He wants.
This isn't your typical book on suffering, it's better.
---
We think we're stone. Only chisels and hammer strikes can change our shape. But no; we're wet clay. We're sediment and soil. We're waiting for hands. We're waiting for fingertips. We're waiting for the pressure of palms. We're waiting to be shaped by an artist. And the artist's tools are hard things.
HARD THINGS ARE GOING TO SHAPE US IN WAYS EASY THINGS CAN'T
That's it, there's the book in a nutshell—that line and the quotation, there's the central premise of the book and the kind of way he presents it.
Hibbs focuses on three of the hard things he's faced in his life—the death of his father, his anxiety disorder, and his struggles with self-doubt. These case studies are just that, things that his readers can relate to, sympathize with, and find similarities in their lives. After that, Hibbs points to finding Christ and His purposes in the hard things, and that's where we find hope.
Anxiety disorders, Crohn's disease, cancer of the spine, the death of your father—these things happen. What matters most is not what happens to you but how you perceive and respond to it. Perception and response—that's the key.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT FINDING HOPE IN HARD THINGS
I've talked about two of Hibbs's books here before— Finding God in the Ordinary and Struck Down but Not Destroyed: Living Faithfully with Anxiety . The former is a collection of essays about finding God in ordinary, minute things in life; the latter is a thoughtful and thorough look at how Hibbs has dealt with his Anxiety Disorder, and how the reader can apply these things to their own problems. This book combines the best of the two approaches to these books—we don't get a systematic look at suffering. Instead, we get essays based on his studies, based on his observations and thoughts.
I loved this approach, this style. Most books on suffering that I've read are meditations or studies on the relevant Psalms—maybe a passage or two from the Gospels or Epistles. Hibbs doesn't do that, he talks about where he is, where he's been, where his readers are/have been/will be. He's learned the lessons of those other books and now he's internalized them. He can meditate, muse, and reflect—and that's what these essays are.
As with his earlier book, these essays are wonderfully put together, a pleasure to read, even without the content.
On an episode of The West Wing, Leo McGarry tells a story:
"This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out.
"A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.
"Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on.
"Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.'"
I thought about that story a lot while reading this. Hibbs is that friend. He knows the way out of the hole—better yet, he understands why the hole is there and how it's used by God to make us into who He wants.
This isn't your typical book on suffering, it's better.
March 20, 2022
Very personal, short take on the question of “why we suffer.” At times very flowery… but some very helpful framing of the place of suffering in the life of a Christian.
His gentle, metaphor-heavy prose is certainly a contrast to the kind of stark language used by people who have gone through what we might call “extreme suffering” – torture survivors, concentration camp memoirs, even my conversations with certain Eastern Europeans who have undergone tragedy after tragedy. Perhaps that’s why it feels flowery.
That’s not to discredit the value of this book. Our everyday suffering and trials shape us in the same way – our personal tragedies will always hurt the worst. And we need the same framework to make sense of it – and to turn to God in the midst of it.
His gentle, metaphor-heavy prose is certainly a contrast to the kind of stark language used by people who have gone through what we might call “extreme suffering” – torture survivors, concentration camp memoirs, even my conversations with certain Eastern Europeans who have undergone tragedy after tragedy. Perhaps that’s why it feels flowery.
That’s not to discredit the value of this book. Our everyday suffering and trials shape us in the same way – our personal tragedies will always hurt the worst. And we need the same framework to make sense of it – and to turn to God in the midst of it.
November 21, 2020
An easy, helpful read that flows well. How are hard things used to shape us? It takes a very personal approach, revolving around three central defining "hard things" in the author's life. There Is a great deal of passion and clarity in the writing. It's very much along the same lines of his other book "Struck Down But Not Destroyed" (which is about anxiety).
April 28, 2021
This book felt like I was having coffee with a close friend. The author is honest, raw and poetic. I was very encouraged by the central message of this book: hard things shape you in a way that easy things can't. However, the one thing I didn't agree on was when he said that we should hope FOR hard things.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2023
Wow, this book's delivery was really different. Felt super poetic. I had to slow down reading this. I definitely got the message. I love how he reminds us how Jesus picks up his suffering and we need to model that! Beautiful!
August 28, 2020
Fresh take on suffering
Poetic, honest and raw. The author shares deeply from his own experience and points readers to the depths of who God is and what he does for us in pain.
Poetic, honest and raw. The author shares deeply from his own experience and points readers to the depths of who God is and what he does for us in pain.
January 12, 2025
highly recommend- Hibbs take on suffering is very biblical. really enjoyed learning more about his personal life and how he developed this perspective. “ease and comfort are not catalysts for change, theyre invitations to sameness. i don’t love trials and tribulations but i love what God does through them” AMEN
February 5, 2021
Hibbs has written a short, concise, sympathetic book about the way that "Hard things are going to shape us in ways easy things can't." That simple phrase is the theme of the book, which he returns to and elaborates upon in many ways.
Hibbs has suffered--that much is apparent from his book, and he wants his readers to find a sympathetic ear to understand not only that others have gone before them in suffering, but that Jesus has gone before you in suffering.
Hibbs has suffered--that much is apparent from his book, and he wants his readers to find a sympathetic ear to understand not only that others have gone before them in suffering, but that Jesus has gone before you in suffering.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews