3 Things to Remember When Adversity Comes Before the Blessing
Happy New Year, My Chickadees. The start of a new year always brings new hope and the anticipation of breakthroughs and blessings. We go into a new year with optimism that this year will be better than the last. For some of us, last year was so challenging that we shouted when the ball fell at the arrival of a New Year, glad to see the last year leave.
The reality is, life is filled with uncertainty and we are faced with the challenge of maintaining our attitude when things don’t go as planned. What will be your game plan if – or for many of us, when – adversity hits before the blessing arrives? No one ask for adversity – it just shows up, most times out of nowhere, and rocks our world. We most often feel fear about the outcome and powerless regarding what to do. It is in those times that our true character and what we believe shines brightest. It is in those times of adversity that our relationship with God gets tested and we are faced with the choice of looking up or looking out. Adversity will show us who are true friends are and who we may need to weed out of the garden of our lives.
As painful as adversity can be, I believe God allows it to bring out the best in us… if we can remember a few hard truths. Here are three things to remember when adversity rocks our world:
#1
“God did not bring you this far to leave you.” This first one is something our ancestors used to say to us, and many of us sing it in our churches. I have come to learn firsthand that every Christian will have a wilderness experience. Anyone that God is going to call upon for the purpose of touching others’ lives – and that’s all of us – will have to know that we know what we know. It has been said that experience is the best teacher, and while it doesn’t have to be, it most often is… if we learn the lesson it teaches. Jesus had a wilderness experience – a literal wilderness experience – and the example He gave us all in standing and withstanding the wilderness was to stand on TRUTH. What is truth, you may ask? God’s Word. If God said, “You are more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens you,” then you are not just a conqueror, you are MORE than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). To me, that means that you will come out on the other side of adversity with wisdom, power, and a deeper walk with God, because you know – in the words of another gospel song – “If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be?”
#2
God IS on your side. A lot of times we don’t think about God as our parent. As with any good parent, He is there with us, advocates for us, and covers us in a love that is steadfast and unmovable. For most parents, it is a given that we love our kids. We might not always like them based on their behavior, but loving them is not a question, and that love will drive us to do anything to help them be and do their best. God is our Daddy and He loves us UNCONDITIONALLY. When trials come – and they will come – we should remember that He promised in Psalm 139:5 that He will go before us, behind us, and hem us in on every side. If we can cling to that truth, we will experience a peace that surpasses understanding and enables us to ride the wave of adversity.
#3
The final weapon of our armor in dealing with adversity is the fact that God places us in a network called family. While each of us are born into one, I am not necessarily talking about your biological family. They can sometimes be the source of your adversity. I am talking about the family of God which is a community of love. The Bible says, “Pride goes before destruction,” (Proverbs 16:18). Don’t allow pride to keep you from reaching out and letting someone know you’re in a storm. You don’t have to let everybody know, but the Holy Spirit will guide you to the family member in Him, to stand with you, and pray with and for you, as you go through the storm of adversity.
I have claimed you all as My Chickadees, my family of love. Let us hold fast to our hope as we go into this new year and remember what the Bible assures us: “We will reap a harvest in due season, if we faint not,” (Galatians 6:9). When adversity hits before the blessing, arm yourself with the armor of truth and stand until your breakthrough comes.
Happy New Year, My Chickadees. Share this message with a friend.
Gail