Don’t Waste Your Adversities

Gulf of Mexico at Boca Grande, SW Florida; BJ Gabrielsen photo,
Gulf of Mexico at Boca Grande, SW Florida; BJ Gabrielsen photo,

The book of James 1-24 state: “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Prostate issues such as cancer are indeed troublesome trials. Are you wasting your troubles? Any time God allows trials to enter your life, He has a purpose for them. He wants you to squeeze out every ounce of spiritual growth instead of letting difficulties force you into despair and discouragement. If you’ll just respond in the right manner, the trial that looks as if it could destroy you becomes an instrument of blessing.

The most natural response to adversity is to groan and plead with the Lord to remove it. If that doesn’t work, we might get angry and say “why me?”  But in truth, ultimately God allowed it. No matter where affliction originates by the time it reaches you, it’s been dipped in the Father’s love and shaped to accomplish His good purpose. The question is, will you cooperate with Him, or will you resist?

Perhaps the key word is found in verse 4 of the verses above.  God wants to use our trial to develop spiritual maturity, but unless you let it do its work, that opportunity will be lost. If we could foresee every benefit the Lord designed our trials to accomplish, maybe we’d be more cooperative.

Although we can’t see all the specifics of God’s plan, we know that His goal is to use our adversity to supply something we lack so we can be mature and complete. Even though the experience is painful, rest in the Father’s comforting arms, and let Him do His perfect work in you.

If you are not sure how these scriptural truths can apply to you, or if you are not sure whether or not you have a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, please see the following linked website section.

The above message was excerpted and adapted from the In Touch devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley, August 17th, 2015.

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