James 1:2-4
“You have been fully informed that you will face difficulty and adversity in the world. So when adversity strikes don’t resent it, trust God and respond to it. Don’t complain about it, trust God and rejoice in it. Why? Because you know that adversity, though painful, makes you stronger. It builds endurance and perseverance into your life. Adversity is productive discomfort. So trust the Lord, embrace the productive discomfort of adversity, and allow it to build into you the attributes you need for a full and effective Christian life.”
The above is my paraphrase of the James passage. It calls us to a very different response to adversity than is common in the world. Here is one more discipline we need in order to respond effectively when we are in the crucible of adversity.
Don’t be self-centered. Be Christ-centered.
Here is something that every believer knows to be true: A Christ-centered mindset empowers everything in the authentic Christian life. The corollary is this: A self-centered mindset disrupts everything in the Christian life. The great battle that every Christian fights is the lordship of Christ versus the lordship of self. It is a daily, inner struggle.
Will we think and act from a Christ-centered perspective, or will we think and act from self-oriented perspective? Will we be directed by what the Lord wants us to do, or will we be directed by the impulses and desires of self-interest? Will we live by God’s standards, or will we fall prey to the deceitful people and distorted ideas of the world?
If we view adversity through a self-centered lens, it is almost guaranteed that we will react with fear, resentment, anger. That is because self sees adversity as something that is painful and unfair that prevents the self from getting things it wants. But if we view adversity through a Christ-centered lens, our response is altogether different. The Christ-centered believer sees adversity as something that refines us and makes us stronger.
We live in a dramatically broken world. We are surrounded by problems on every side. That means we have to see with clarity and courage, and we must be prepared to respond to difficulty and adversity. If we don’t see clearly, and if we aren’t prepared, we will be constantly caught off guard, disappointed, and unable to operate as God intended.
In the middle of trouble, people will run somewhere for refuge. There are many pseudo-sanctuaries where people tend to hide: another person, entertainment, a substance, food, sexual pleasure, etc. But the reality is that none of these can provide real and lasting shelter, so putting hope in them only adds disappointment to the trouble people are already experiencing! There is only one place to run where real protection, rest, and strength can be found.
“O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me.” (Psalm 7.1)
We all experience adversity. That is a given. The great variable is: How will we respond? There are three basic options:
Get frustrated/angry and quit.
Go through it and get bitter.
Go through it and get better.
Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile makes the observation that people require stressors and challenges in order to learn, adapt, and grow stronger. Without challenges that push them to respond vigorously, people become weak, rigid, and fragile.
“Just as spending a month in bed leads to muscle atrophy,” Taleb writes, “people are weakened when deprived of stressors. This is the tragedy of modernity: as with neurotically overprotective parents, those trying to help are often hurting us the most.”
Christians should be antifragile. Why? Because they trust God. They know who he is and have responded to his call on their life. Because they have accepted the mission that God has assigned to them: live and work in the midst of a broken world, navigate through the storms, and do so in a way that reflects the reality of the presence and power of God.
Challenging situations are Defining Moments; that is, they are events or circumstances you face where your path through life is defined not by the adversity you face, but by your attitude and action in response to adversity. A Defining Moment is a decision point. It is a testing point. You are not defined by the difficult circumstances you face; you are defined by how you respond to your circumstances.
Keep in mind that you are most vulnerable to making bad decisions when you are under pressure. You are most tempted to stray from the path when things get difficult. So trust God and do the disciplined work of musar. Then you will have the wisdom, skill, and strength to respond to Defining Moments.
You will be tested by the storm, and you will be refined in the crucible of adversity. Trust God, do the work, and the crucible will make you better, wiser, and stronger. The Lord is fully aware of how hard this is to do. That is precisely why he calls you to Himself.
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” (Psalm 57.1)
The Lord is calling.
