Devo: "Understanding Adversities"
Understanding Adversities
“…and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know.” (1 Thessalonians 3:2–4)
When I was in a college statistics class the professor asked us if there was anything that had a 100% probability of occurring. We mentioned a number of things and the professor offered an explanation why those answers did not give a 100% chance of occurring. According to the passage above, there is something that has a 100% of occurring and that is all of us will at some point in time face some type of trial, tribulation, or adversity in this world. According to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in this passage, we are told we are destined to face some type of adversity in this life. A lot of the adversities in this life are the result of living in a fallen world. We are warned of this truth so that it does not shake us in our faith. Since adversities are a part of living in this world, it is important for us to understand the adversity and the proper way to overcome it or endure it.
For example, when Jesus was asleep in a boat while in a demonically empowered storm, Jesus got up and rebuked the storm (Luke 8:22-28). But when Jesus faced another type of storm on the sea, He simply walked on the water in the midst of the storm (Matthew 14:22-33). Jesus knew what was causing the storm and how to respond in the storm.
God is calling us to participate with Him to allow Him transform us into the image and likeness of Jesus. As a part of the process of that transformation, I believe God is calling us to understand the adversities in this life, so we can either overcome it or endure it, plus extracting from the adversity the revelation God would have us take.
When I say endure, it has the same meaning as perseverance and endurance. Endurance is not a form of defeat. Endurance or perseverance is a very powerful principle in the Word of God. Endurance/perseverance is from the Greek word hupamone, which literally means, “to bear up under”. Endurance having its perfect result enables us to be like Jesus, perfect, complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:4). Endurance enables us to have proven character (Romans 5:3-5). Endurance enables us to receive the crown of life (James 1:12). Endurance also empowers us to be able to receive what God has promised (Hebrews 10:36). Endurance is a form of victory in the adversities of life.
In this week’s devotional series, we will be presented with a simple and abbreviated outline of the different adversities that we could face in this life. We will be presented with the basic information on the origin of the adversity and how we can participate with God to either endure it or overcome it.