ad·ver·si·ty
[ad-vur-si-tee] Show IPA
noun, plural ad·ver·si·ties for 2.
1.
fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune,calamity, or distress: A friend will show his or her true colors intimes of adversity.
2.
It has been said that adversity happens. A more modern translation might say "stuff happens." A slang translation uses a more descriptive word, "________ happens." There are things that occur that one just simply cannot control. In the last few weeks our nation has been rocked by the remnants of a hurricane and other weather events stemming from that storm that have been chaotic and disruptive to lives. The ordinary flow has changed temporarily for some while for others it has been life-altering.
Adversity happens in many forms. Pain. Sickness. Death. Job loss. Devastation. Broken relationships. Misunderstandings. Misfortune. Even in the midst of this loss, one can easily personalize the adversities that he or she have gone through, perhaps within the past week. Bottom line, adversity happens! When it does, what do you do about it? How do you react? Some shut down. Some respond in anger. Others become hardened and others depressed. How one deals with adversity stems from the very worldview they may possess. Negative people may blame others and say that is just the way it is while positive people may ask what can I learn through this trial.
The Bible is full of characters that dealt with adversity. One character that seems to have more recorded instances of adversity than anyone else is the Apostle Paul. 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 describes some of the adversity he went through.that included beatings, floggings, stonings, being shipwrecked, lost at sea, being in danger from others, being thirsty and hungry, being cold, sick, going without sleep, and even times where he had no clothing. The list is exhausting just reading it, it is hard to imagine what it was like to be in just one of those situations let alone being in all of them! Adversity happened!
So just how did Paul deal with these adversities in his life? While scripture does not go into detail about each situation and how he dealt with such, there are a few instances where one can gain insight. In Acts 28:1-
6, one such instance reveals a mindset and perhaps a model of how to deal with adversity. Paul has just been over 14 days in hurricane like winds in a ship on the sea. The ship wrecks and the 276 people on board have either swam to shore or floated safely there on the remnants of the destroyed ship. They are cold. They are wet. It is raining. They are able to start a fire and in an effort to keep the fire burning, Paul gathers brushwood to throw it on the fire. While doing so, a snake comes out of the brush and bites Paul on the hand. This is not a glancing blow, it is a full-fledged bite to the extent where the snake is literally hanging by its fangs penetrating through the skin of Paul's hand. Interestingly, there are witnesses to this trauma. They respond in an interesting way. They don't rush to the aid of one that has been snake bit, but they immediately go into a mindset of doom and gloom. They say, "He must be a murder because he escaped the sea and now Justice has not allowed him to live." Parenthetically, how many times have you ever allowed your adversity or the adversity of others win? In other words, how many times have you just said, "Well, adversity happens. My fate is sealed. Gloom, despair and agony on me...(remember the song from 'HEE-HAW?')." By-standers thought Paul was dead. His eulogy had already been started.
According to scripture, Paul's next action is simplistic yet it reveals a mindset that is literally life-changing if one can put it into practice. Another parenthetical insertion here, the application of scripture is always easier than we allow it to be. Paul remains calm. He is matter of fact. He simply looks at his hand, sees the snake, shakes it off into the fire, and goes on to what is next without suffering ill effects.
So what can we learn from this? Here are a few things you can begin right now to deal with adversity in your life:
1. Recognize that adversity will happen no matter what you do to prevent it.
2. Because adversity happens (and it will), begin now to develop a mindset that will help you shake it off by doing the following:
- Realize who is in charge of the big picture through the study, meditation and application of concepts found in Romans 8:28; Genesis 50:20; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah 29:11
- Realize who you are through God's viewpoint as revealed in scriptures like Psalm 139:1-18; a study in the book of Ephesians (utilizing the "I AM" statements...more on that later!); John 3:16; Isaiah 9:7
3. Pray. Development a mindset of prayer and that literally is shown in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17.
4. Surround yourself folks that don't "produce ill effects" (1 Corinthians 15:33) or allow poisonous thoughts to enter your mind by changing the way you think (Romans 12:2).
5. Practice shaking it off by shaking it off. Literally. James 1:22.
Adversity happens. Will you be ready?
