What can you suggest when a person has gone through extreme hardships and it keeps on happening?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

Extreme and repetitive hardships can often leave a person feeling abandoned or overwhelmed. However, in the Coptic Orthodox tradition, these tribulations are viewed through the lens of divine providence and the refinement of the soul.

Here is a perspective based on the Church Fathers and spiritual life to help navigate such a difficult season:

1. Understanding the Purpose of Affliction

In the Coptic tradition, we follow the teaching of the Desert Fathers and leaders like St. Athanasius, who understood that trials are not necessarily punishments, but tools for salvation. St. Paul writes that we have the "sentence of death in ourselves" so that we "should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead" (2 Cor 1:9).

When hardships keep happening, it is often a call to:

• Acquire Self-Knowledge: Hardships reveal our weaknesses and our total dependence on The Lord.
• Humility: Constant struggle breaks the pride of the heart, leading to true humility of heart.
• Detachment: Repetitive trials remind us that this world is not our permanent home, urging us to seek the Kingdom of Heaven.

2. Practice "Unseen Warfare"

When you are bombarded by trials, the spiritual life suggests focusing on one specific virtue at a time rather than being overwhelmed by the weight of everything.

• The Rule of One Virtue: If you are suffering, choose to exercise the virtue of Patience. If a new hardship arises, do not ask "Why is this happening?" but rather, "How can I use this specific moment to practice patience and joy?"
• Submission to God’s Hand: View the hardship as coming through the "mighty hand of God." Even if the trial comes through the malice of people or the fallen nature of the world, God permits it for your eventual spiritual profit.

3. Liturgical and Sacramental Support

The Coptic Church is a Church of Martyrs. We derive our strength from the Sacraments:

• The Agpeya (Book of Hours): Praying the Psalms provides words when you have none. The 12th Hour (Compline) and the Midnight Praise remind us of the hope of the Resurrection after the darkness of the trial.
• The Eucharist: Participating in the Divine Liturgy unites your suffering with the suffering of Jesus Christ.
• Confession: Seek the guidance of your Father of Confession. He can help you discern if these hardships are a result of personal spiritual negligence or if they are "crowns" being prepared for your endurance.

4. Practical Encouragement

• Do not trust yourself: When trials repeat, the devil often sows seeds of despair or the thought that God has forgotten you. Disbelieve these thoughts. Turn to persistent prayer to receive "true light" and realize that your strength comes solely from God.
• Look to the Saints: Read the Synaxarium. You will find that many saints faced "extreme hardships" until their very last breath. Their victory was not in the removal of the hardship, but in their faithfulness through the hardship.

If you are feeling exhausted, remember the words of the Liturgy: "The sorrows of death encompassed us... but in our affliction we cried out to You." God is closest to those with a broken heart. Focus on surviving just today in a state of thankfulness, for this is the "sacrifice of praise."