The Aim of our Adversity

Like good evangelicals, we love the promises of God.

Scripture is full of them, and since we believe that the Bible is true, we know that the statements that we find in the pages of God’s Word are real pledges that He has given to His people, and so we can trust that they work, and that they will come to pass as He has said.

But here’s a humdinger of a guarantee that likely won’t get a lot of amens on a Sunday: “In this world, you will have trouble,” (Jn 16:33).

Jesus said this at the Last Supper, right before a world of trouble was about to break out against everyone sitting at the table.  Within the next day, Jesus would dead, Peter will have denied Him, and all of them would be in hiding from the angry crowds, having abandoned their Master to His death.

We are promised difficulty in this life.  And yet, we are also promised so much more.

First, we are told that seasons of trial are just that: seasons.  They are not everlasting, but temporary.  Peter encouraged the Church, acknowledging that “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials,” (1Pe 1:6). Scripture tells us that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven,” (Ecc 3:1). This includes the season of struggle.  And like any season, there is a process of sowing, and then waiting, and then harvest.  There is a timing to the trial where God waits until the harvest from the hardship is ready for us, and then He allows us to reap and move on from it.

The good news is that the trial will end.

Second, trials are preparation for something.  So often in Scripture we see great trials occur right before new blessing is released.   Jesus needed to go through forty days with Satan before He could do a single act of ministry.  Moses spent forty years in hiding before he was ready to lead God’s people from captivity.  The Hebrew’s time spent wandering in the desert was a prelude to them finally getting their Promised Land.  And the nation of Israel found themselves crushed under an oppressive, Jew-hating Roman regime, in the years before the Saviour would finally be released to the world.

God uses these seasons of hardship to spiritually and practically prepare us for something that is coming.  He tears down the bad character in our life and raises up more godly characteristics, using the struggle to shape us into who He needs us to be.  And although we may not “deserve” the hardship that we are facing, in any situation we can always be more Christ-like.  So the Word tells us to “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:7;v.11) Our trials are training times, where God prunes us to make us into the most fruitful versions of ourselves that we can be (Jn 15:2).  Once this has happened, then we are ready to be promoted in the Kingdom.  But the training must come first.

Paul said that “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…” (Rom 5:3-5). God knows that some of the best character-forming times occur, not when things are great, but when things are hard.  And because most of us would never willingly volunteer for personal hardship, He sends circumstances against us that we must overcome.  By placing us in situations that we need to struggle through, the Lord is able to use these things to form us into the image of His Son.

As well, it was during the trial that many of the heroes of Scripture also learned practical things that they were going to need in order to walk in their approaching destiny.  Joseph became adept at management and administration while overseeing Potiphar’s house in captivity, and then while assisting the warden while in prison; good skills for a prime minister to have!  David learned how to be a leader and command troops while on the run, which would be a key to his kingly reign later on.  Jesus’ time in the wilderness was not the last time that He would face off against the demonic powers; His desert temptation gave Him tools to overcome the enemy.  During our ordeals, there is a divine preparation happening in the natural as well as in the spiritual for each of us.

Thirdly, trials are a test.  God uses them to prove our hearts, expose our flaws, and show us who we really are.  There are four very important questions that He asks us as we struggle:

1. Will you still believe Him?

Peter wrote to the Church concerning trials, saying that “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed,” (1Pe 1:7). Faith that is not tested and proven is not faith at all.  And the only way that faith can be tested is be put in situations where we are forced to walk by faith, and not by sight (2Co 5:7).  If we can see the answer to prayer, then we are not walking in faith, and so God will take us places where we cannot naturally see anything.  If we want to walk with Jesus, we will find ourselves in places where there is no earthly reason to believe that something is going to come to pass.  By being there, we are challenged to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2Co 4:18). This is what true faith is (Heb 11:1).

2. Will you still worship Him?

This was the nature of Job’s trial; Satan was sure that if Job was pushed hard enough, He would turn away from God and curse His Name (Job 1).  It is perfectly easy to worship God when things are going great.  There is no challenge in thankfully praising Him when everyone is healthy, at peace, joyful, and comfortable.  But when the tough times come, the challenge arises: Is your worship conditional on your circumstances?  Or like David as he fled for his life, are you truly able to say, “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” (Ps 34:1)

3. Will you still obey Him?

Abraham was challenged by God to very possibly the worst of all trials: to sacrifice his beloved son (Gen 22).  This came to test him, to see if he truly feared the LORD and would obey Him no matter what (v.16).  Of Israel’s forty years of wilderness, Scripture says, “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands,” (Dt 8:2). By walking through the trial, we are tested in whether we will keep God’s Word, even if we don’t feel like it because of our situation.

4. Will you let God work on your character?

This is one of the most important questions for us to decide on.  We need to make the choice of whether or not we are willing to submit to the process that God has mapped out for us.  God tells us that He “will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Mal 3:3). A refiner would heat the silver until it was liquid, and as it got hotter, the impurities would rise to the surface of the liquid silver, where they could be scooped out, leaving the silver purer through the process.  This metaphor is apt, as it describes the process that God uses with us to make us more like Jesus.

We are rarely at our best in our hardships.  The stress of the situation, the sleepless nights, the irritable people, the endless waiting, the incredible anxiety – these things don’t typically bring out our best qualities.  When God places the fire of affliction underneath us, it faithfully causes our flaws to rise up to the surface.  In the fire, we see our true, full character for what it is, and things like our lack of faith, our impatience, our temper, our self-righteousness, our self-reliance, and many others, will rise to the surface and be clearly visible.  When they are, we have the opportunity to acknowledge them, repent of them, and let our Father deal with them and remove them from our lives, if we are willing to let Him do His work.

Fourth, and finally, God has absolutely no doubt that you will make your way through your ordeal.  He has promised us that He will not permit you to be tempted “beyond what you can bear,”(1Co 10:13). In that sense, as difficult as your situation may be, it is almost flattering in a way: God has allowed something that He KNOWS you can handle!  He does not doubt for one minute that you will pass this test!  He is fully confident that you have what it takes, and He is not worried at all about your ability to prevail, even if you are.

Not only is He confident in you, but of course, we place all of our confidence in Him (Ps 25:5).  He has promised us that “no weapon forged against you will prevail,” (Isa 54:17). And in light of resurrection, what else in life can possibly overcome us?  If sin and death have been defeated forever, then what else can possibly stand against us?  What else can possibly prevail?  What trial can ever bring us down?  If death itself has been destroyed, then any other struggle that we face is going to be child’s play to the One who conquered the eternal grave.

Jesus is the “the author and perfecter of our faith,” (Heb 12:2); He is One writing our story and He is the One making it perfect.  And if we believe that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose, (Rom 8:28), then we really have no need for any worry.  This trial will end, He will use it to prepare us for what is next, and we will grow immensely because of it.  He promises.

Jesus was right in what He said; in this world, we do face trouble.  In our lifetimes, we may well face sickness, loneliness, poverty, hatred, accusations, division, deception, frustration, sin, and many other manner of struggles.

But now’s the part where I admit I misled you slightly at the beginning of this teaching.  I told you that the Word promises us that, “In this world you will have trouble.” (Jn 16:33).  Scripture does say this, and it is certainly true, but it is not the whole story.  Because I only told you half the verse.

The verse in its entirety reads much more hopefully, as Jesus tells us: “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)