Proverbs 24.10
“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
When you face adversity, trust God and don’t flinch. As the proverb says, adversity will test you. It will test your faith in Jesus and what kind of spiritual and mental strength you have built prior to facing the challenge.
Not flinching in the face of the storm requires being prepared. No Christian should ever be surprised by difficult and challenging situations. No Christian should ever be surprised when bad things happen.
Peter communicated this critical truth in his second epistle: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (2 Peter 4:12).
Proverbs 17.3 also teaches that adversity is a test: “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.”
At the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, here is what Jesus said about the storms of life:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7.24-27)
I am amazed that despite the clear teaching of these scriptures, far too many Christians flinch in the face of adversity. Far too many are shocked and surprised when the storm hits. Far too many are simply not prepared for the realities of life. Are they just not paying attention?
So let me say it again: Adversity is a test. More specifically, adversity is a test of the condition of your heart. It is a test of what you really believe. A test of the habits you have built into your life. A test of how deeply you have allowed the Lord to abide in your heart. A test of your knowledge of and commitment to the truth of God’s Word.
When people are not prepared for the storm, that is when they flinch, faint, and fail the test. When adversity hits and you reach deep into your heart to find the courage to trust God and the strength to respond with resilience, what you will find within you is what you have built within you. If you have not “allowed the word of Christ to dwell in you richly,” you will be revealed. If you have not put on “the full armor of God,” you will be revealed. If you have not “built your house on the rock,” you will be revealed.
The storm is coming … how will you respond? What will you do when the test comes? Will you flinch, faint, and fail the test? Or will you trust the Lord, do the work now, and respond with strength and resilience?
When it comes to adversity, you are neither unique nor exempt. To think otherwise is to be either terribly naive or dangerously self-centered. Bad things happen. It’s not a matter of whether you will experience adversity; it’s only a matter of what and when.
Are you prepared?
