On Thanksgiving Day, I shared with you about my depression and how homesick I was. I shared that I was battling and I was wanting to give up. But I found hope in God’s Word and through a study I’m going through entitled “Keep Pressing Ahead” by Chip Ingram.
I want to share the second part of that first lesson with
you that hit home with me. I am going to break it into two parts so this won’t
be a novel. If you didn’t read my last post, that will help you get in the
frame of mind of where I might be going with this. So I encourage you to take
10-15 minutes to read my Thanksgiving Depression post (I’m sorry, it was a long
post!).
Adversity sometimes feels like a brick wall. No matter how hard we hit it, it is still there, challenging us to hit it again. But instead of pounding against the wall, we have to give up outselves to the only One who can take the wall down.
Chip talks about when we face adversity, we have to
remember the basics, as he calls them, which are:
I cannot; Christ can.
Believe God wants to save me.
Admit I need His help.
Cry out to Him.
Knowing these things is great encouragement. But Chip goes
on to talk about adversity. He has a whole section entitled, “Stop believing
the lies about adversity.” There are five lies that we always think about when
going through any type of struggle, whether its depression, internal conflict,
outside conflict, or whatever.
The first lie that we need to stop believing is that
adversity is totally and utterly out of this world. Chip points out that
adversity is normal. It’s completely and utterly normal! Isn’t that
great? You’re not a odd ball for going through what you’re dealing with, you’re
perfectly normal! Satan wants you to believe you’re alone in your struggle and
that there is something wrong with you.
Jesus says in John 16:33, “These things I
have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
My interpretation: You live, you will face
adversity. IT’S NORMAL. Jesus says so!
2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes,
and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
My interpretation: If you live AND follow
Jesus, you will suffer persecution or adversity. Because Satan is trying to
bring you down harder than ever. You are his next challenge and he’s going to
make sure that he hits you with everything he got to make you doubt Jesus’s
victory. Jesus says back in John that He has overcome the world. We still have
to go through persecution, suffering, adversity, but we can have victory
through Jesus who has overcome our struggles.
Second lie we love to believe: we didn’t
see it coming! We didn’t expect it! Why did it happen?! Chip says, adversity is
expected. 1 Peter 4:12, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the
fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”
Peter is saying that fiery trials are normal and it is to be expected!
Why are we so surprise when it comes? Why
do we scream at God when it comes to us like it slapped us in the face? Mostly
because it hits home way too close for our comfort zones. And I believe that is
where Satan wants to attacks us.
Why haven’t I not seen this verse before?
Probably because I thought that this was talking about another person’s fiery
trial, because I would see my own fiery trial coming, shouldn’t I?
Let me make this clear: I believe what Chip
and Peter are saying here is that we should expect trials, fiery trials,
to come our way. It never says anything about when it will come or how
it will come. It doesn’t even say that we should understand it when it
comes. Adversity is coming our way; there’s no way to prepare for it besides
knowing God’s faithfulness in the last trial and hanging onto His promises
through this one.
The third lie we love to believe: there’s
no purpose. There’s always a purpose when we go through trials.
Romans 5:1-5 says, “Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this
grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And
not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that
tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character,
hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
The purpose of going through trials is that
it will produce perseverance: translation: endurance. After perseverance has
been made, it will produce character. A better us, a better me, a better internal
life, a life more reflected on Christ. Then it will create hope; hope never
disappoints. You know why my friend? In verse 5, it says that hope is God’s love
poured out in us by His Holy Spirit. How AMAZING is that?!
God is creating a better, more enduring,
hopeful, loving human being when we go through adversity. Now, who would have
thunk?
Whatever fiery trial you’re facing today,
hold onto the first 4 steps of Chips’s sermon because they are invaluable truths:
You cannot do it, but Christ can.
Believe that God wants to save you.
Admit that you need His help.
Cry out to the One who wants to save you.
Then stop believing the lies that Satan
throws at you about adversity. Remember that Jesus says adversity is normal.
Peter says it’s to be expected. Paul says it’s purposeful, creating a new you;
a gift from God Himself.
Go back to God’s Word to see what He has to
say about your trial. Yes, you may not find the trial you’re going through in
His Word, but the truths of how much He loves you and wants you to be more like
Him are in there. Rely on those truths.
In the next week, I’ll write the second
part and discuss the last two lies that we like to believe about adversity.
Until then, God bless.
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