25 Bible Verses about Suffering, Hardship

The poor you always have beside you, but you will not always have me.

The poor you always have beside you, and you can be kind to them whenever you want; but you will not always have me.

You have always the poor beside you, but you have not always me."

He fasted forty days and forty nights and afterwards felt hungry.

and for forty days he was led by the Spirit in the desert, while the devil tempted him. During these days he ate nothing, and when they were over he felt hungry.

Brothers, you recollect our hard labour and toil, how we worked at our trade night and day, when we preached the gospel to you, so as not to be a burden to any of you.

See, the wages of which you have defrauded the workmen who mowed your fields call out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

When the fourteenth night arrived, we were drifting about in the sea of Adria, when the sailors about midnight suspected land was near. On taking soundings they found twenty fathoms, and a little further on, when they sounded again, they found fifteen. Then, afraid of being stranded on the rocks, they let go four anchors from the stern and longed for daylight.read more.
The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They had even lowered the boat into the sea, pretending they were going to layout anchors from the bow, when Paul said to the officer and the soldiers, "You cannot be saved unless these men stay by the ship." Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and let her fall off. Just before daybreak Paul begged them all to take some food. "For fourteen days," he said, "you have been on the watch all the time, without a proper meal. Take some food then, I beg of you; it will keep you alive. You are going to be saved! Not a hair of your heads will perish." With these words he took a loaf and after thanking God, in presence of them all, broke it and began to eat. Then they all cheered up and took food for themselves (there were about seventy-six souls of us on board, all told); and when they had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea. When day broke, they could not recognize what land it was; however, they noticed a creek with a sandy beach, and resolved to see if they could run the ship ashore there. So the anchors were cut away and left in the sea, while the crew unlashed the ropes that tied the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach. Striking a reef, they drove the ship aground; the prow jammed fast, but the stern began to break up under the beating of the waves. Now the soldiers resolved to kill the prisoners, in case any of them swam off and escaped; but as the officer wanted to save Paul, he put a stop to their plan, ordering those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, while the rest were to manage with planks or pieces of wreckage. In this way it turned out that the whole company got safe to land.

I prove myself at all points a true minister of God, by great endurance, by suffering, by troubles, by calamities, by lashes, by imprisonment; mobbed, toiling, sleepless, starving;

(You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.)

and after preaching the gospel to that town and making a number of disciples, they turned back to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to hold by the faith, and telling them that "we have to get into the Realm of God through many a trouble."

To this very hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and knocked about, we are waifs, we work hard for our living; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we put up with it; when defamed, we try to conciliate. To this hour we are treated as the scum of the earth, the very refuse of the world!

Now I would like you to know about the distress which befell me in Asia, brothers. I was crushed, crushed far more than I could stand, so much so that I despaired even of life; in fact I told myself it was the sentence of death. But that was to make me rely not on myself but on the God who raises the dead;

Ministers of Christ? yes perhaps, but not as much as I am (I am mad to talk like this!), with all my labours, with all my lashes, with all my time in prison ??a record longer far than theirs. I have been often at the point of death; five times have I got forty lashes (all but one) from the Jews, three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked, adrift at sea for a whole night and day;read more.
I have been often on my travels, I have been in danger from rivers and robbers, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, through dangers of town and of desert, through dangers on the sea, through dangers among false brothers ??27 through labour and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, starving many a time, cold and ill-clad, and all the rest of it. And then there is the pressing business of each day, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel his weakness? Whose faith is hurt, and I am not aglow with indignation?

Not that I complain of want, for I have learned how to be content wherever I am. I know how to live humbly; I also know how to live in prosperity. I have been initiated into the secret for all sorts and conditions of life, for plenty and for hunger, for prosperity and for privations. In him who strengthens me I am able for anything.read more.
But you were kind enough to take your share in my trouble.

Join the ranks of those who bear suffering, like a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus.

for you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you took the confiscation of your own belongings cheerfully, conscious that elsewhere you had higher, you had lasting, possessions.

(men of whom the world was not worthy), wanderers in the desert and among the hills, in caves and gullies.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for where is the son who is not disciplined by his father?

I know that you are enduring patiently and have borne up for my sake and have not wearied.

in fact I told myself it was the sentence of death. But that was to make me rely not on myself but on the God who raises the dead;

and you will be hated by all men on account of my name; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.

and you will be hated by all men on account of my name; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.

Blessed is he who endures under trial; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the crown of life which is promised to all who love Him.

See, we call the stedfast happy; you have heard of the stedfastness of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord with him, seen that the Lord is very compassionate and pitiful.