The Blessing of Adversity

Adversity. It can be our worst enemy or our best friend.

I once heard someone say, "When you are faced with adversity, it either makes you bitter or better." When a tragedy suddenly befalls us, we can either choose to become bitter and blame everyone else (including God) except ourselves. Yet, that makes us miserable people and stops us from moving on. In such cases, adversity becomes our worst enemy. On the contrary, we can choose to believe that every adversity that befalls us is written within God's Great Story of Creation, and trust that God allowed it to happen to enrich and refine us. In such cases, adversity becomes our best friend.

Adversity is like a crash course, accelerating our learning and growing curve, forcing us to learn priceless life lessons that we would not have learn in the absence of adversity. C. S. Lewis is right in saying, "God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain." It is in adversity that we hear God most clearly. Therefore, we need to learn to give thanks not in spite of adversity, but give thanks for adversity.

Adversity is indeed a blessing (although it is hard to say this when one is in the midst of it, but it remains a fact). Amidst a prosperity-oriented, positive-thinking church culture, such a fact must be reiterated relentlessly.

"Blessed are those who face adversity, for theirs is the fruit of the Spirit."