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Archive for the ‘Adversity’ Category

Endurance: Facing Resistance with Attitude!

Posted in Adversity, Endurance, Positive Thinking, tagged , on May 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” James 1:2-3 New Living Translation

I must admit that I don’t take to adversity very well. My normal reaction to the challenges of life that come my way is often, “WHY is this happening to me?” or  “What did I do to deserve this?”

Some adversity in life comes suddenly and without warning. Like an unexpected accident or the sudden death of a close family member. Sometimes we bring adversity on ourselves by making poor choices or even facing a challenge by taking appropriate risk or exercising courage.

Just recently I’ve been taking a weekly half-hour swimming class which is meant to develop a higher level of fitness by swimming vigorous laps around the pool wearing fins. This class in “Fin Fitness” has taught me a lot about facing resistance and developing strength and endurance.

Each week,  before class begins I start wondering why I agreed put myself through the gauntlet. Everyone who has been involved in the class sees the benefits because the exercise is so intense. The small group of my classmates are younger, fitter and better swimmers than yours truly and it’s a huge challenge keeping up with them  – a task I’ve been unable to accomplish so far.

When the class is over and relief sets in I’m joyful that I stuck it out. I then experience the benefits that come from facing the challenge and finding the endurance to persevere.  Hopefully strength, fitness, flexibility and endurance will be physical benefits I will enjoy not to mention the emotional well being that is part of the process.

Whatever the test or trial might be I often wonder if our state of mind is the critical factor in it all. Is there a mindset that will help us on a day to day basis that will carry us through as we courageously face  the challenges that come our way?

In the book of James in the New Testament, the author makes some very startling statements, especially about trials and suffering. One of the better known verses, quoted above, instructs the reader to actually consider trials and tests as joyful opportunities for personal growth.

James does say that if our faith is tested, endurance has a chance to grow. When you consider it, in many areas of life we don’t get very far without meeting resistance head on.

Whatever challenge you may be facing today take a close look at your attitude toward it.  Remember that James is addressing followers of Jesus in the first century. Jesus Christ is the one who faced the adversity of the Cross and all that it entailed, yet came through victorious. Not only is He our Savior but our example of facing adversity courageously and with an eternal perspective.

 Although I don’t like to admit it, in a world full of adversity there’s probably nothing that will build strength and endurance except facing resistance with a positive attitude and an eternal perspective.  

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Advancement Through Adversity

Posted in Adversity on October 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

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.

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