How to Go Deeper with God through Adversity
Why do you think God allows adversity to come into your life? You might feel devastated like Job, struggling with an impossible situation that has come into your life. God wants you to go deeper with Him instead of allowing bitterness to sneak into your heart.
No one can escape adversity in this life.
Adversity is something we all face to one degree or another. It doesn’t matter if you are Queen Elizabeth of England or the poorest person who lives in a shack in Haiti. We all face problems.
Queen Esther faced losing her only relative, Mordicai, and her Jewish people. Instead of hiding from her problems she used her influence as Queen, even risking her life to save those she loved from destruction. (Esther 4)
Esther’s Jewish name, Hadassah, comes from the word myrtle which is a tree whose leaves only release a fragrance when they are crushed.
Like Esther, our lives can bring forth beauty through adversity when we are crushed.
Are You Facing Adversity?
Is your faith challenged because of rough circumstances you are facing?
Maybe you have gone through such difficult times that you are crushed under adversity.
God can lift you up out of the mire by releasing the sweet fragrance of His overcoming power in your life.
Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Psalm 69:14
- When you raise your child to walk with God and they choose to rebel against you, the standards in your home and God, it is one of the hardest things a mother will ever go through.
- Violence in the home from your husband or child is one of the most difficult things to live through. If you are facing this kind of adversity, please get help because it goes beyond any encouragement I can give you.
- When you are faced with raising a child with serious special needs, debilitating health issues or your child has cancer or another long term disease, it takes daily care and concern that will stretch a mother beyond where she ever thought she could go.
- When your husband leaves you for another woman or defiles your children, you are faced with the most devastating kind of adversity possible. You find yourself alone and raising children without the protection and love you had always hoped for.
- Finances can stretch you beyond what you ever imagined as you live from paycheck to paycheck or without it at all.
- Fire can devastate your physical belongings and within moments destroy all that you had on this earth.
I have been there in the anvil of adversity as God made me into who He created me to be. It was the worst thing I ever went through but I have come out of it being sure that God used all my pain for His glory.
God Gives Joy in Adversity
The first step towards joy is encouraging yourself in the Lord like David. (1 Samuel 30:6)
That means taking the first step and putting on a smile and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will do the rest.
A number of years back, I cared for an aging relative for about a month when my children were young. Relatives thought we were crazy and that it was the wrong thing for us to do since our children were impressionable. I hope they were left with a good impression because I sure learned a lot!
I learned two things. It seemed that this lady had chosen bitterness because of whatever adversity she had faced in her life. Even so, when she prayed, she could connect with her Lord in such an amazing way. God will never leave or forsake you!
Pour out to God every detail of your situation even though He already knows all about it. Hardship brings you closer to Jesus as you go deeper with God.
When you face adversity you will find that God’s arm is long enough to reach you and lift you out of the mire.
4 Verses to Encourage in Your Adversity
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18
For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 2 Corinthians 1:5-6
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:14
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
In the middle of the adversity you are facing, keep your eyes on Jesus and rely on His strength to get you through. (Hebrews 12:2)
The adversity and suffering that you are experiencing for the sake of Jesus, makes what He experienced for you, look like nothing.
Learn to practice looking forward to the promises of Jesus and forget all the temporary troubles that you have right now.
Looking to Jesus!!
Did this bless and encourage you today? Would you like me to pray for you?
Resources for Going Deeper with God
DOWNLOAD your FREE 30 Day Bible Reading & Writing Challenge HERE by clicking the link!
ESV Journaling Bible
Interleaved Edition (Printed TruTone, Summer Garden) Imitation Leather
