Adversities
have many faces. They can be broken things—broken relationships,
broken health, broken careers, broken dreams, anything that
disturbs my comfort zone or that of those for whom I am concerned.
They can be changes, losses, trials, trauma, problems,
sufferings, illness, accidents, or catastrophes. Adversities are
things out of my control. They can be mental, physical, material,
emotional, social, or spiritual. Adversities can be visible or
hidden. They can be little whammies or big bangs, an annoying drizzle
or a hurricane. All of them involve grief of some kind. Sooner or
later and both sooner and later everyone experiences
adversities. They often feel unique to me and I tend to think that I
am the only one facing such an issue. It is useless for me to compare
my adversities with those of others.
Adversities are painful. I can't
pretend they are not there. I can't blow them away, pray them away,
or praise them away. Some are chronic adversities that I can't shake
off; they cling to me like burrs. My human perspective of adversities
differs from God's view. He uses them to lovingly and gradually
shape and transform me into the image of His Son.
I
must accept a few things in order to understand what God is doing in
my life and how He is doing it. Earth life is not fair and is often
unjust. I must understand that not until the final judgment will God
deal fully with inequities and injustices. Adversities should be no
surprise. They are part of the normal
Christian life! Saint Peter instructs us, “Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for
your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but
to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on
rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may
rejoice with exultation” (1 Peter 4:12). Adversities are not for
the purpose of punishment. God is not venting His anger on me. God is
still in control even when he doesn't keep bad things from happening.
We don't live in
a random universe. God is involved in all of my life. Always. He is
not silent or absent even when I can't hear Him or see Him at work.
But He may or may not intervene in my circumstances; He will not
violate my free will with which He has endowed me. Adversity is not
simply to get through but to grow through. It is one of God's most
effective tools to mature me. Whatever puts me down, grows me up.
“Tribulation brings about perseverance” (Romans 5:3). Every loss
is a potential gain if I am “in Christ.” I gain through losing.
What I am going through is trivial and “not worthy to be compared”
to heroic Christians who are giving their lives for the gospel. Saint
Paul says that our adversities are a “momentary, light affliction
which is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all
comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Adversities are often God's means of getting my attention. If I don't
respond to a little tap on the shoulder, or a bit of sandpaper in my
comfort zone, the Lord might use a loving hammer or a blow torch to
alert me. My adversity is not as important as my response to it.
God’s dealings are never from vengeance or retribution. They could
be for correction, and they are always for good and not for evil.
(Jeremiah 29:11-14) God provides me with enough resources and grace
and His strength to meet any adversity. He will never leave me or
forsake me and never changes in His faithfulness. I need to keep
moving right on through an adversity no matter how slowly. If I go
through rocky places, I can use them as stepping stones to draw
closer to Him.
“Things
happen to me,
so that things can happen in
me, so that things may
happen through me.”
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