Adversities and You

It would seem strange that the LORD should tell the children of Israel that the things He had done in their lives was that they might know that He was the LORD. And this is also true in the lives of His children today! Did they not know that He was Jehovah, the great I AM? Did they not know that the great I AM delivered them out of slavery in Egypt by the hand of Moses and after 40 years of wilderness wandering (to teach them many precious lessons) and afterwards brought them into the Promised Land by the hand of Joshua?

Of course, they knew all these and more. But why did the LORD tell them thus? In Ezekiel 7:3-4, the LORD told His people, "Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

God allows adversities in the lives of His people - past, present and future - so as to bring to bear as to who He is, especially in respect to His sovereign power and that He judges the children of man righteously. On the other hand, it also reveals how little they do really know Him, not of or about Him. Although they were Israelites, God's covenant people, they did not really know Him the way they ought.

They might have followed all the religious practices of the day but they were merely going through the motions or doing them as a ritual or routine, quite meaninglessly. The Bible speaks of such as those who "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof….ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:5, 7)

You might be attending church and even participating in the activities thereof. But if you have not personally received Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you do not really know Him.

You might have been made to repeat the sinner's prayer but without proper understanding. Salvation is a personal relationship between the sinner and the Saviour, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Unless this relationship has been established, you do not have the saving knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. As such adversities which come your way, are sent of God to cause you to realize your true estate thereby turning you to the Saviour in true repentance of your sins.

Can you remember the parable of "The Sower and the Seed" that Jesus told the great multitude which had gathered to hear Him? Some of the seeds fell on stony ground, recorded thus, "And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away." (Mark 4:5-6) Jesus went on to explain that "these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended." (Mark 4:16-17)

If this is a description of you, then repent and confess your sins before the LORD and ask Christ to be your personal Lord and Saviour now. Do not let this opportunity pass you by while you still have breath in your nostrils.

If on the other hand, you have already confessed Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour but have been spending so little time with Him and for Him, ask yourself this question, "Have I been burdened by the cares of this life or have the attractions of this world captivated me that Christ is not preeminent in my life?" If this be the case, the LORD is lovingly using adversities to cause you to realise how little you know Him and how far you have drifted from Him. This is the Father's loving chastisement for you to pause and consider your way and to return to Him, like the prodigal son who said to himself, "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." (Luke 15:18-19) The story does not end here for it is recorded that "he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20)

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." (Hebrews 12:6-8)

If you have truly been born again and are striving on a daily basis to walk close with Him, the adversities you are facing are meant to draw you to closer fellowship with the LORD, that you might know Him even better. This is God's pruning process mentioned in John 15:2, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Paul understood and accepted God's purpose for all the adversities he faced, desiring only that he might know the LORD better through them. He expressed it thus, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." (Philippians 3:10)

Therefore, thank God for trials and adversities. They are God's means of grace to turn us to Christ and opportunities for believers to know Him better. As such we can echo the words of the hymn by Ron Hamilton, "Rejoice in the Lord" and I quote one of the three stanzas as follows:

"Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best and I trust in His care;
Through purging, more fruit I will bear.

[Chorus]

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake
He knoweth the end of each path that I take.
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold."

Adopted from Calvary Tengah BPC Weekly,
Heart-to-Heart Chat - written by Elder Frederick Lan.
20th August 2006