Category Archives: Faith and Practice

Dealing with Adversity

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“we rejoice in our sufferings…”
Romans 5:3 (ESV)

“Into each life a little rain must fall, some days must be dark and dreary” (Longfellow).  I think we can all understand and agree with Longfellow.  Each of us has known those dark and dreary days; some of us may be facing them even now.  Adversity, persecution, trial and hardship – these are experiences common to everyone, in one way or another.  How we respond, however, defines our character.

Jesus warned his followers that “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20 ESV).  Facing adversity for your faith, being persecuted for your beliefs, dealing with hardship because of your decision to live in righteousness and peace; all of this is to be expected for those who follow Jesus.  If you are truly living for Christ, you will face persecution.

There are those who, when faced with adversity, react poorly.  In anger they may lash out at those who stand in their way, or in defeat they may resign and run from their problems.  “Fight or Flight” are the two recognized biological responses of all animals facing acute stress. 

There is a third response; it is not biological, it is spiritual.  Romans 5:3-5 tells us to rejoice in our sufferings, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

This third way, the way of rejoicing in the midst of suffering, is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is not natural to us.  But when God is with us, we will face difficulty with:

  • Faithfulness – Consider Job.  He lost everything, his farm, his house, his family – only his wife was left, and she told him to just curse God and die.  Job’s response, however, was one of absolute faithfulness, “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21 ESV).  The overarching message of Revelation is that in the midst of the calamity, persecution, and general mayhem of the last days, God is still on His throne, and He has a plan of salvation for His people.  In spite of your trials, because of your trials, trust in the Lord.
  • Humility – Every time we face hardship, or we are persecuted by others, it is important for us to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Sometimes the adversity we face may be God’s way of disciplining us, weaning us from sin, teaching us to lean solely on Him.  Ask yourself, “How have I been wrong?  How have I contributed to this problem?  Am I guilty of doing to others the thing that is causing me suffering?”  You may be completely justified, you may be suffering unfairly, but each us of may learn, through humility and a teachable spirit, how to grow and mature through the struggles we face.
  • Grace – How much better would the world be if we treated one another, especially in times of great crisis and stress, with the same grace that God has given to us?  Jesus said in Matthew 10, “Freely you have received, freely give.”  In Jesus we have received the free gift of grace, the salvation from our sins, as God overlooked our sins and transgression to bring us forgiveness.  As He has forgiven and welcomed us, so we are to forgive and welcome one another.  Grace under fire offers forgiveness and seeks forgiveness.
  • Love  – One of the greatest questions we can ask in the midst of our suffering is, “How can I, even in the midst of adversity and trial, show the love of God to those around me?”  In the course of our struggles we come to know how God’s love has been poured into our hearts, until we come to the point of overflowing, so that God’s love spills out into the lives of others.  As we respond to adversity with love, we can encourage and equip those around us to do the same.

Friends, suffering is not easy, nor is it enjoyable; but neither is it without purpose.  Whatever you may be facing today, may God’s Spirit equip you to face the day with Faithfulness, Humility, Grace, and Love, and may your trials bring you closer to the Lord.

SDG

A more excellent way…

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“And I will show you a still more excellent way…”
I Corinthians 12:31 (ESV)

I have to confess, in preparation for this morning’s men’s bible study I was convicted in my reading of I Corinthians 13:

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends…
1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (ESV)

Usually this passage is read in weddings, and it is a wonderful text for the wedding service.  If more couples would take these words to heart, we would find stronger and healthier marriages and families. 

The reality is, though, that this passage has nothing to do with marriage.  The letter to the Corinthian church was written to a broken and divided community.  They were divided over which pastor they liked, they tolerated overt and heinous sin openly practiced by members of the church, they were filled up with pride in their accomplishments and fighting over the importance of their giftedness in the Holy Spirit.  Most notably, the Corinthian church made a mockery of the Lord’s Supper by allowing the wealthy to gorge themselves on the meal, getting drunk on the wine of the table, while ignoring the needs of the poor and keeping them from the table.  This was a broken and divided church.

Paul gave counsel and correction on the issues that plagued the Corinthian church, addressing the particular problems they faced.  But in chapters 12-14, Paul addresses the heart of the matter.  The problem of the Corinthian church wasn’t necessarily poor theology, the problem was a lack of love.  The division and in-fighting of the church was a direct result of the lack of love the community shared.  They were tremendously gifted, but all of those gifts, without love, were meaningless.  Of all the gifts we could desire from the Holy Spirit, the greatest and most fundamental gift is that of love.

Every day it seems we hear of divisions and fighting within the church.  Competition between denominations, controversies that arise in national churches, arguments that ensue within local congregations; the problems of the Corinthian church are with us today.  I wonder, how many of these divisions are a result of our lack of love?

I know that I struggle with this daily.  It is easier for me to respond in the way of the world.  When somebody offends me, or questions my integrity, or says something to cut me down; my first inclination is to respond in kind.  But I hear the Spirit teaching me: Love is patient, kind, humble; it does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful.  Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things.  Love never ends.

Have you been upset by someone in the church, or some decision made by your church recently.  Have you said to yourself, “I just won’t have anything to do with that person,” or “I’m just not going to participate in that event?”  Are we divided as a church, as the body of Christ, over the songs we sing on Sunday morning or the decision made by a particular committee, rather than, in love, “not insisting on our own way, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and believing all things?”  John MacArthur wrote in his study on this passage, “It is tragic that in many churches, as in the one in ancient Corinth, the love that is basic to Christian character does not characterize the membership or the ministry.” 

I have been challenged by this passage today to be a more loving person.  Have you?  May we, regardless of where we may be, commit today, by the grace of God, to be a more loving church!

SDG