"The Problem With Wasted Adversity"

“² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”  James 1:2-4 (NLT)

Do you remember how people said that your salvation experience would be? Some told you that all of your worries would be over; they would toss around a bunch of good sounding church clichés leaving you in a state of euphoria. Not one person bothered to prepare you for the difficulties that were bound to come your way more sooner than later.

If your experience was anything like mine, you were made to feel invincible, just think back to how many times people quoted Isaiah 54:17 to you. It was always popular to encourage one another by saying that the weapons formed against you wouldn’t prosper, but they neglected to inform you that there indeed will be times when the swords of trials and adversity would cut deep into your spirit-man.

We view trials as something to distance ourselves from; hardships as undesirable; and pain as something to avoid at all cost. However, the Bible puts these things in a different perspective, and asks us to look beyond the immediate sensation of our trials and see Gods’ purpose behind it.

At times it’s very puzzling to realize that even when we strive each day to adhere to the precepts of holiness; God still allows hardship to attach itself to our lives. Yet Paul teaches us in 2^nd Timothy 3:12 –

“…all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”.

So we ask the question: “Why Does God Allow Hardship and Adversity to Enter Our Lives?”

1.      “He Placed Purpose Within You” – Think about Christ’s ministry for a moment… He performed many miracles by healing the infirmed, resurrecting those who passed on, feeding thousands with just a little. His fame preceded him throughout the land. Yet inspite of all his greatness and authority, his purpose would lead him to hours of physically painful suffering which culminated with being nailed to a cross to die for the sins all mankind…But the glory of it all is that after dying and being laid in a tomb for three days, he arose with all power.    

Psalm 37:23 say – “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…” God created us with individual goals in mind, and regardless of your particular assignment in life your purpose is to be a witness for Christ and to demonstrate the awesome love and power of God towards all men that will be life altering. This cannot be achieved if our testimony is only based on the goodness we experience. Proof of our walk with Christ lies in the fact that we’ve come through many difficult times and situations in life…it’s impossible for a person who’s never been sick to testify of Gods’ healing power; nor can one talk convincingly about Gods’ ability to deliver you if they’ve never been bound by anything.

2.     He wants you to experience great spiritual growth instead of letting the difficulties of life cower you into despair and discouragement. Adversity is designed to mature us at various levels of our Christian experience. Overcoming hardship can only be achieved by facing them head-on. Sometimes we win and other times we lose, but through it all we grow a little stronger, and are more than able to make it through the next trial…”each victory will help you, some other to win”.

3.     He wants you to know that the trial which looks as if it can destroy you will ultimately become the instrument that blesses you. In the book of Genesis we learn that Joseph was tossed into a pit by his brothers and sold into slavery…but the Lord was with Joseph and his new master recognized the integrity of Joseph therefore making him the overseer of his household… But after his master’s wife wrongfully accused him of trying to have his way with her, Joseph was thrown into prison…still the Lord remained with him and he was given charge over all of the other prisoners…The events that would follow within the prison ultimately led to Joseph being made second in command over all of Egypt. This could not have happen if Joseph made foolish attempts to avoid hardship; instead he maintained his trust in, and loyalty to God.
     (Ref. Proverbs 3:5-6)

The natural response to adversity is to plead with God to remove it; but when he doesn’t, we complain not realizing that complaining never makes us one with God, it makes us his enemy…we get angry and try to find our own way out of the difficulty and pain.

That is what’s known as “wasted adversity”.

Proverbs 14:12 states - “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are ways of death…”

By attempting to find our own way out of tribulations we tie the Fathers hand to deliver us thereby ending up in a deeper pit of anxiety.

When troubles arrive we must resolve to just let go and let God by learning to endure hardness as a good soldier… (Ref. 2^nd Timothy 2:3)

The proper response to adversity is to give God praise always knowing:  

“…he’s able to do exceeding, and abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that is at work within you”.