The Beauty of Adversity

Those who know me pretty well know that I mull over ideas in my head for a while, but as I'm doing that, I usually talk out loud. But I don't like to talk to myself (much), so I share half-baked ideas.

The last couple of days I've had this topic running around in my head--"The Beauty of Adversity". I didn't actually have a name for it until tonight, but here it is.

I don't like adversity. I avoid confrontation. I don't like to deliver bad news. But I've also found that in those times, I'm much more likely to rely on Jesus and pray and read my Bible and study. When I have to do something that I don't want to do, or if I need to do something difficult, or something that I'm unprepared for, I seek help, eventually. The stubborn part of me starts by trying to ignore a tough situation, but when I finally have to face it, I seek help.

And I believe that is exactly where God wants us. He wants us to remember that we're dependent. Our nature wants to believe that we're independent and self-sufficient. But that's not true. It's easy to believe that lie when everything is going well. We start to think that we caused our string of good luck, or think,"Wasn't that clever of me to be in the right place at the right time for this to happen?" But the truth is that God is the cause of all blessing.

Isn't our purpose in life to bring glory to God? And if so, in times of plenty, we should be thankful for his bounty towards us, and in times of adversity and trials, we should look to God to be our strength and our hope. That way, when He works His purpose out in us, He gets the glory. 

I haven't really finished this thought, so if anyone else has any input on it, I'd love to hear it.

Dave