Adversity

When we have problems like I have had in the past you know it is very hard to see the light at the end of tunnel, but through studying and a lot of praying I have realized that these hardships have a purpose. We may not know the purpose at the time we are going through the hardship but they are all for a learning experience. I have recently just sit down and studied some scripture on adversity. Peter tell us we should not be surprised at the hardships we face.

Actually, adversity is one of God's greatest tools for helping us to grow spiritually. God uses trials in our lives to shape our character and bring us to a higher level of faith in Him as He works in bad situations for our good. Some of the things that I have learned about adversity is (1) Adversity can come from the fallen world in which we live. (2) Adversity can come from attacks by the enemy. (3) Adversity can be caused by our own sin.

I have many times been in a midst of a trial and asked myself "Why is this happening to me?" But I have realized that I am not alone. No one is exempt from adveristy. Most, however, are the simple results of the circumstances to touch each of our lives. The Lord has not made a mistake by allowing adversity into our lives. He uses them for our good. God uses our trials to teach us about Himself, to create Christ-like character, to reveal His love. For that reason, adveristy can be a good thing depending on whose perspective we take. Just beware of your own perspective. It can fool you. While we have the right to view things from our prespective, it doesn't mean our perspective is always right.

While we look at adversity from our viewpoint, we tend to ask, "What am I going to do?" When we seek God's point of view through adversity, we ask, "What is God going to do?"
There is nothing we face in our lifetime that our Lord didn't face when He was on earth. He was rejected, betrayed, accused, misunderstood, and abandoned. Christ suffered grief, temptations, and pain. I have found that adversity from God's perspective is not about gloom, but HOPE! Hope that as God begins a good work in me, he promises to bring it to completion. Adveristy in the hand of God is what He uses to shape us and form us into all he created us to be.

When gold is taken from the coal mine, it is usually still covered with coal and other impurities. Left in this state, the gold is hard and less workable, just like a hardened heart left alone remains full of pride, anger, and self-will. Therefore, the refiner places the gold into the fire in order to remove all impuities from the gold. This is a delicate process because left alone the gold could be destroyed. So the refiner stays with the gold, carefully watching over it becasue he does not want to destroy the gold but purify it. When gold is purified, the refiner can see his own image reflected in the gold. It also becomes soft and flexiable much like a pure heart is soft, tender, and flexiable too.

Likewise, God is much like the refiner who purifies gold and silver. God is at work purfiying each of us. However, the prophet Isaiah explains that God's refining process is not done by fire, but through adveristy. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10... It is through the refining process of adversity that God works "good" in our lives. We can never know all the ways God works "Good" in our life because they are beyond measure and our limited understanding. However, we can know some of the ways He uses adversity.
1st Our adversity draws us closer to God and His grace......Adversity is the door to knowing that God's grace is enough for whatever we encounter in life.
2nd Our adversity develops Christ-like character....James 1:4-But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. While alot of us want to be perfect and complete, we don't want to go through a trial to get there. Yet, suffering is what makes us strong and able to face the next trial that comes our way.
3rd Our adversity silences the devil while bringing glory to God....Bible says that Job was a righteous man for that reason God blessed Job. Satan, however accused Job of serving God for his blessings only. So the Lord allowed Satan to torment Job. God knew Job loved Him simply because He was God. This was a test of Job's faith. Through much suffering, Job was faithful. When his wife and friends give up Job trusted God, by doing so, His faith was proven genuine and Satan was silenced. Would God allow adversity in our lives in order to test out faith?

It's when we receive the will of God in our lives that we have won the victory! Our circumstances may not change, but our anger will turn to peace, our sadness to joy, and satisfactionwill replace fear as we receive and live out our life's purpose. Purified like gold we will become God's trophies of grace.........