Lessons for Living

And to the man he said, ‘Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains.’ Genesis 3:17-18 (NLT)

I think I have been viewing life a little differently since I revived my long lost exercise program.  It comes from working out a few times a week at my local gym the past two and a half years.

Now that I make this one of my regular places to meet people in our community I rub shoulders with folks who represent diverse steams of thought regarding health and fitness. There are, however, several things we all share in common. Everyone is there with a goal in mind, a strategy for reaching it and some sort of resistance they face in getting there.

Recently I began chatting with a woman I had been noticing on a regular basis. She caught my eye because her weight loss program was showing dramatic results and I wanted to complement her on her commitment to the process of change. I mean this girl would qualify as a top contender in any “biggest loser” contest. When she told me how much weight she had lost through diet and exercise I was completely blown away.  In my estimation she’s more of a success story than many of the super-fit gym enthusiasts who put the rest of us in our place.

It seems that everything worthwhile in life is accomplished by struggling against resistance. Whether it means dropping a few pounds, completing a course of study, raising children, changing careers or being a catalyst for change, genuine progress only comes through resistance or standing strong in the face of adversity.

I think this is due to the fact that we live in a world that was not designed to operate as it actually does. Life on this earth was designed to be lived in close connection with our Creator. But we live in a fallen world and until we are fully redeemed we won’t be having an easy time accomplishing anything of quality and substance. Just take a closer look at Genesis chapter three and you’ll see what I’m talking about. We live in a world cursed with weeds, thorns and all sorts of nasty obstacles.

This seems pretty obvious but for many years I think I was living in denial.  For much of my life I don’t think I had a very good attitude toward adversity. My family will tell you I that I don’t even have much patience with inconvenience!

Like most people, I have faced my share of suffering through the years.  Some of the most concentrated years of personal adversity came during 1989 to 1995. During those six years, between my wife and me all four of our parents died as well as one of my sisters.  Living overseas, we made seven emergency trips back to America during that time. In early 1990 I had a co-worker develop a serious mental illness and was instrumental in having him hospitalized. I then faced a similar situation in 1992 with a close family member.

I think after that season of suffering I became rather callous and unable to see that something positive could come out of those experiences. However, I’m beginning to develop a different attitude toward adversity. I’m realizing that adversity in its various forms can actually build our spiritual and emotional resources if we accept the inevitability of it and realize that there are supernatural provisions available to us in the process.

The New Testament writer James says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfectand complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NIV)

I think James is saying that our acceptance of adversity with a joyful attitude will make a difference over the long haul.

After all these years I’m starting to appreciate that suffering will be part of the growth process of life. My attitude will make a significant difference in the development of my character. As I follow Jesus Christ, He wants to take me to the place where I’m complete and lacking in nothing. He knows the potential of the man I can be. I must realize I’m not that man – yet. I’m trying to accept that it does not look likely to happen without hardship.

I don’t know what struggles you are facing just now. I have many friends who are now enduring suffering that I feel is far worse than mine. I do know that it’s possible, with God’s help, to see suffering as a friend of maturity, rather than a dreaded enemy.

It is my hope and prayer that we can learn to draw on God’s resources in every season of life and even advance through adversity.