SEEING ADVERSITY AS USEFUL

I don’t believe there is ever anything wasteful about adversity, unless we ourselves see the adversity as wasteful. Thus, our perspective of the trouble determines our response to the trouble. You can either see it in Christ, which enables you to see purpose in it; or you can see it without Christ, which erases your ability to see any meaning in the trial.

When we see Jesus as the King in control of everything, then the circumstances that touch our lives aren't wasteful, but purposeful. You see, the Christian's destiny has been preset from eternity to be made into the image of Jesus. Yet we respond like paupers when the "poorness" of problems are deposited into our lives.

God however, desires for us to be rich in character, in accordance with the richness of His nature. And since we can't see His image locked up within, God uses everything we go through to withdraw His image without.

I speak from the empty bank vault of my past life, where I thought I was successful because of my resume. I received a full athletic scholarship from Temple University and was drafted as a 1st round draft pick to play soccer professionally. But what was my character like without Christ?

Many would have thought highly of it based on the outward appearance. I, too, believed I was going in the direction of success—“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death"(Proverbs 14:12). I was rich in pride, yet pride is backed by the bank of hell. And though one may be prospering, he could be headed straight to bankruptcy.

Take it from me, because I caused a very reckless tragedy. And surely God doesn't ordain recklessness, but He does recycle our faults, flaws, and failures into usefulness. My adversity didn't move me to this conclusion, my restored vision did. I saw Jesus as my hope and He gave me purpose in my pain. He gave me life in death. He gave me the richness of His character by allowing me to experience the poorness of my own character.

I do not believe for a single second that there is ever anything wasteful about what God allows to touch our lives because if it has touched our life, it had to pass through the scarred hands of Jesus Christ. Period.

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