Charles Stanley - Growing In Our Adversity
When a child is born, we naturally expect that child to grow. And so, we look forward to when the child is walking, when he's two or five, maybe thirteen and then nineteen and twenty-one and twenty-five and on we go, because that's the natural normal thing to happen. And when a child does not grow, we know we have a major problem. Well the same thing is true in the Christian life. When you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Bible says you're born again. So, speaking of new birth, that is then we are to grow in our relationship to Christ. We're to grow in our knowledge and understanding of who He is and how He works in our life. And we're to grow in understanding of the difficult times we have and how we're to respond.
So, when you look in the Scripture, for example, the Apostle Paul reminds us in this fourth chapter of Ephesians and the fifteenth verse, he says, "But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ". And then of course, Peter says a similar thing in Second Peter and the last verse of, of this epistle. He says, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen".
So, you could go all through the Scriptures and there are many verses in the Bible about growing. That is, we're not to be saved and just stay there. If you'll think about how little you knew about God the day you were saved and how little you knew about God a month after you were saved or a year after you were saved. But when you begin to read the Word of God, you begin to pray and you observe how God works in your life, how God is working in other people's lives, you are growing in your Christian life. And the more you and I grow in Christ-likeness, the more we are walking in the will of God and becoming the persons He wants us to be.
So, we talked last week about this whole idea of adversity and today I want to talk about "Growing in Our Adversity". We're going to have adversities in our life. We're going to have those difficult times in our life. Either they can become setbacks in our life or they can become times in which you and I grow into Christ-likeness and grow into His will for our life. So, what I want us to look at is this. How do we grow in those times? You can stop where you are in the midst of it, blame God, blame someone else, and what you do? Listen to this, this simple phrase. Don't waste your sorrows. In other words, if I'm going to hurt, I don't want to waste them. I don't like hurt. I don't like pain. But if I've got to have it, I don't want to waste it. I want to grow in it somehow in some way. So, really growing, growing spiritually during my hardship, my adversity depends upon two things, if I'm really going to grow. And the first one is this: my understanding of God's purpose for it. In other words, as a follower of Jesus.
Now if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, something you brought on yourself, and no doubt your suffering is because the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death". And the Bible says that we will reap what we sow. But we're talking about believers now, who are going through adversity in their life. And so, we are to understand God's purpose. So, I want you to be sure you jot these down because somewhere along the way you're going to see yourself in one of these. And one of the primary reasons here is that God allows adversity in our life to get our attention. We just go along in life and doing our thing and ignoring Him. And sometimes we ignore Him after He tries to say to us in prayer or many other ways or through someone else, what He wants us to do or what He wants us to think about, we just ignore Him.
And so, adversity comes along and all of a sudden, He has our undivided attention. God, what are You doing in my life? A second reason, which was certainly true according to the Apostle Paul in his life, and that is to conquer pride in our life. You're doing really well and you're getting along fine. You don't have any time for anybody else. And fact, you think, "Well, why can't you take care of yourself and, and why are you having such a hard time"? And the Apostle Paul said that the reason He felt it was God was helping him, keep him from exalting Himself. God had given him so many awesome privileges and understandings in this twelfth chapter of Second Corinthians beginning in the seventh verse. He said one of the primary reasons is to keep him from becoming prideful and arrogant.
And if you'll think about what is in the book of Romans and First and Second Corinthians and Galatians and Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians and all the rest, all the awesome wisdom you and I live by. He said God sent him a thorn in the flesh to keep him usable, lest he become prideful and arrogant and God could not use him anymore. Then of course, one of the reasons we have adversity is to remind us of our weakness. If think, you know that you're strong and you can handle it and you move along in life and never think to ask God to give you strength and wisdom and direction for your life. And what happens is we think we're adequate. But God knows how to weaken us. And He reminds us of our weakness. Listen to this. Not in order to keep us weak, but in order to remind us who is the source of my strength.
The source of our strength is Almighty God, and sometimes we need to be reminded of that. And He knows exactly what to send into our life to remind us of that. Then of course, one of the reasons He sends adversity in our life and allows it is in order that you and I may hate sin. Now, the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death". And all through the Scripture, sin has its penalties. And there is suffering, heartache. There's adversity as a result of sin. And so, God naturally allows the adversity of sin into the person's life who is choosing to sin against God. And He allows the suffering to come. And we know the principle. We quote it often. We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. And as a result, we are going to feel the impact of sin in our life. And so, He allows adversity to increase our hatred of sin. Sin doesn't fit a child of God, period. No amount of sin, no quality of sin; no nature of sin fits who we are.
We're a children of God, born again by the grace of God to live a holy righteous godly life. That doesn't mean perfect, but it means that our attitude is godly; our actions are godly. It does not mean that we'll never sin, but it means that's an exception to the way we choose to live. Then of course, He allows it in our life to demonstrate His faithfulness. And sometimes we go through adversity and things are really tough. It's really bad. Maybe you live alone, for example, or you're having a financial issue, in all of that, and what happens? God demonstrates His awesome faithfulness when you and I have no other place to turn. Then we look to Him, we rely upon Him, because He is a God who is faithful. That means He's dependable, He's trustworthy, He's always there in every single circumstance of life in which I need Him, no matter what. So, we understand what His faithfulness is about when we're in our greatest need.
Also, I think one of the reasons that He allows it in our life and maybe we don't think this is important to us but it's very important to God. How do we best comfort other people? When we have been either where they've been or we've hurt with the same intensity they've hurt with, or we go through the same sorrow, or some other issue in life where that we've been deeply hurt, deeply we felt pain, deep loss in our life. Because, to be able to comfort somebody is to feel with them, to have, to be able to emotionally feel to some degree what they're going through. To the people who have been through the same pain you're going through, are probably the best to understand and to identify. That is if they're godly and if they are not selfish and are able to genuinely say to you, "You know, I may not know all you feel, but I have been there". Or, "This is things God has done in my life". But being able to comfort other people, that's part of living the Christian life. If the Spirit of God is indwelling us, one of the, one of the responses we'll have is we want to comfort somebody in their hurt, in their pain.
This young lady came in this morning and she'd had an accident and broken her foot. And as soon as I saw she was on crutches and she couldn't move that, I felt for her. Because I've been in situation I couldn't move a part of my body. But, in other words, we should be giving out all the time in our life. And if we have been comforted by God, we are like a spring of comfort for someone else. Then one of the reasons that God sends and allows adversity in our life is to get us ready for service. In other words, One of His primary reasons for sending adversity into our life, and all adversity doesn't come with the same intensity. It's not all the same kind, but there are difficult times, hardships, and sufferings we go through in life. One of the primary reasons is to equip us to help other people. That is, to serve the Lord in some fashion, whatever that may be.
And I think anybody who's going to be a pastor is going to hurt. In other words, you cannot comfort other people, you cannot uphold them, you cannot lift them up and encourage them unless you felt something within yourself. And what you will discover is that people who've had it so good, they've had it so good in life, and they come to somebody who's hurting, they can't do much. They can talk, but they can't feel. They can't sense deep. In other words, if you've had no adversity, you cannot emotionally feel what somebody else is feeling.
So, God gets us ready to serve Him in different ways. Then of course, what is God doing? He's expressing His love. You say, "Wait a minute now. You're telling me that adversity, God is expressing His love"? Yes, He is. Listen, He loves us enough to cause us to hurt enough, to surrender our life to Him because He knows where we're headed is a disaster. We don't realize how dangerous we are to ourselves sometimes until God stops us and helps us to understand this is not a setback. This is a moment in which God is expressing His love toward us by stopping us from heading in a direction that He knows we do not want to go. And then, of course, one of His reasons is to change our sense of direction. In other words, God knows exactly what it's going to take to accomplish His will in our life.
Now, we said, understanding God's purpose for adversity and secondly, what's the proper response? "I have to see it from God". In other words, anything that comes... watch this now: you've trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit's come into your life to live to rule and to reign. Therefore, He gives you guidance and He says, "I'll guide you with my eye upon you. I'll teach you in the way we should go". So, He's doing that. So, therefore, when I come to the Word and I'm thinking about what's happening, so how do I view this from God? Because God has something in mind that I know is best. And so, we will quote our favorite verse, one of our favorite verses. "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him; to those who are called according to His purpose".
You've surrendered your life to Him in Christ. He says He'll cause something good to happen. And if you're in the Word of God, and this is why I say you should read some portion of the Word of God every day. Because sometimes it's just exactly, it's just tailor made for you. Because He knows what's going to happen that day. And so, our response ought to be something like this. "God, what's Your goal for this in my life? I know you don't just let these things happen. What's Your goal"? And I learned a long time ago, if I'm going to hurt and if I'm going to have pain, I'm going to suffer about something, glean the most I can out of it. Squeeze every bit of truth I can. Let me learn something that's worth the pain I'm suffering. Now don't forget that. Lord, let me learn something that is worth the pain that I'm going through at this particular time. And then you surrender your will to Him.
That's always the right response. "Okay God, I don't understand maybe fully, but I yield myself to You. Whatever You have in mind, God, I know has to be good for me, because I'm one of Your children. So, I'm trusting You. I'm going to lay it down before You. I'm going to believe that You know what's best for my life and that You have the best plan for me, whether I understand it or not. So, I'm going to surrender myself to Him". And then, rest by faith in His faithfulness. "Lord, I don't understand it all. I wish I did, but I don't. But I'm going to rest in Your faithfulness". And His faithfulness means that He is trustworthy in every single situation. He will do exactly what He promised to do. For example, you're saying, "I don't know what to do, where to go in this area". And He says, "I will guide you with My eye upon you". I will teach you in the way which you should go.
Do you believe He'll do that? Do you believe that God is faithful? Then going through adversity, I can rest in His faithfulness, that He's going to do what He promised to do. That in this given situation, this circumstance, though I don't like it, though I'm hurting, though it's painful, though I'm misunderstood, or whatever it might be, I'm going to trust You. I'm going to rest in Your faithfulness that You are going to bring me through this in a way that's pleasing and honorable to You. Then a second thing I would say is this: Some biblical truths that affirm the idea that God's goal for our adversity is our spiritual growth. So, think about that, some biblical truths that affirm this idea that God's purpose in our adversity is our growing.
And if you'll think about this, it is God's most effective way for deepening our faith and commitment to Him. Because it's when we go through trials that we're forced to... I'm going to trust Him or not trust Him. And I'm going through some trial and I trust Him and Satan may come in and say, "You know, who do you think you are? God's not going to answer that. That's, you know what? You, just, you might as well face it. You're finished with whatever's going on in your life". No. God's going to be faithful to you no matter what. And so, it's just one of those tools that God uses to strengthen our faith and our commitment to Him.
And then what happens? You go through a difficult time and God answers your prayers, sets you free, and you praise the Lord, and what happens? Watch this carefully. When He has visited you in some form of adversity, and He brings you through that, that's like He has increased the strength of the foundation of your life in your faith in Him. Because you can look back and see, "Well God, You brought me through that. Thank You, Lord. And You brought me through that. And you brought me through that. And you brought me through that". And this is why you and I meet people who are very, very strong in their faith, though they've been through all kind of things. Why? They've responded in the right way and recognize that each experience they went through was like adding to the foundation of their enduring faith that will be there and last them through the last days of their life. That's who He is.
So, think about this also. The area in which we're experiencing the most adversity is the area in which God is at work, bringing us to spiritual maturity. The area of our life in which we're experiencing the most adversity. If I should say, "How many of you today are going through some form of adversity? Or you know somebody who, who is". Everybody's hand would probably go up. Well, ask yourself the question: What's God's goal in that? What's His purpose in that? God is in the process not only of helping us understand, but He's maturing us deep down inside. It isn't something we've just read or heard. There's a spiritual godliness. There's a spiritual maturity. There's a spiritual strengthening that goes on in our life that nobody else sees. It isn't something you necessarily feel until.
You know when you feel it? The next time you hit one of those bad times and you're tested and you're tried and then you realize, "Well, thank You Jesus. I don't feel like I used to feel. Somehow, I can see how You're in this". We mature on the inside invisibly but not invisible to God. And God is not going to ever place on us any load that He knows we cannot handle if we trust Him. There's a load limit to whatever we may be facing in life. That's the kind of God He is. He puts a limit to it. He knows what we can handle. And He, watch this, and He knows when in your life you can handle this adversity and when you cannot. And He will not place more upon you than you can handle if you will trust Him for it. And so, it's the will of God that we continually grow in our Christian life more and more. And it's going to be determined by two things.
Two things. Either that I see all this hurt and pain as an opportunity between God and myself. To grow in my Christian life, or I see it as an obstacle. Listen. Jesus living within you through the Holy Spirit is there to teach and give understanding and enable you, help you, strengthen you in your relationship to Him. To grow, to become stronger, have deeper understanding. And listen, to grow in our loving relationship to Almighty God. It's an opportunity, not an obstacle. It's only an obstacle when I see it as an obstacle, rather than an opportunity. And I suffer the consequences of unbelief and have to face it. So, how do you face adversity in your life? Just think about it for a moment. Believing that God is in it, and that He's going to be with you in it, and He will walk with you through it every single day necessary till He brings you through.
Now if you've never trusted Jesus as your Savior, let me tell you, friend, I don't know how you think you're going to live in this world and this life without Christ and be happy and have joy and peace in your life. You're not going to. You may be trying to cover up your adversity, and people do with alcohol, drugs, sex, money, and on we could go. None of that can satisfy the human heart. Only a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And you can say anything you want to say about those things and how necessary they are. No, they're not. The one thing that is absolutely necessary for life, to have peace and joy and happiness and contentment. Even in difficult trying adversarial times, is a personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, which begins the moment you're willing to confess your sinfulness and say to Him, tell Him as best you know how that you do believe that His death on the cross and the shedding of His blood brought about your forgiveness.
Now I understand. Listen carefully. God's only begotten Son, Jesus, came into this world for the primary purpose of laying down His life in order that you and I could be saved and one of these days go to heaven. And on the cross, He bore your penalty and mine for all of our sins and the sins of the whole world. He was crucified and the shedding of blood was the shedding of His life. That was God's requirement that the sinless, perfect, virgin-born Son of God, sent into this world for the purpose of dying for our sins, went to the cross, died on the cross and paid your sin-debt in full, completely. And as a result, when you accept Him as your personal Savior, your sins atoned for for all eternity. Now, let's take the cross out of the scene. And you die and face God. It's you and your sins standing before Holy God. And listen carefully, you have no claim; you have no excuse. You can't come up with enough good works that say you deserve it because the truth is none of us do. But it's Jesus and His death at the cross that paid your sin-debt in full. And if you die without Him, it will be an eternal mistake. And I want to encourage you, whatever adversity you're going through to recognize that isn't God being against you. That's God putting pressure on you so you'll turn to Him and have the gift of eternal life.
Father, how grateful we are that Your gift of eternal life is large enough to include everybody in the entire world. And Your love is great enough to include everybody in the whole world. And we humble ourselves before You and acknowledge it's not because we deserve it, but because You love us that we have the gift of forgiveness and cleansing. So, I pray today for those who are going through some adversity in their life that their first response or their response having heard this will be to turn to You and ask You to give them wisdom to help them understand what they're suffering in life. Lord, this world is full, filled, running over, jam, cram, packed with adversity. Show those of us who are believers, followers of Yours, how to be a blessing, God, to those about us. In Jesus name, amen. announcer: If you've been blessed by today's program, please visit us at InTouch.org. announcer: "In Touch," leading people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and strengthening the local church. This program is sponsored by In Touch Ministries and is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.