Adversity in the eyes of Jesus

When David was confronted with the challenge from Goliath; his response was very different than the rest of the Israelite army. They were shaking with fear. What they saw was a giant; an impossible situation. But David had learned to look at the challenges in his life from heaven's view point. He saw the giant; but his focus was on his God ; who is greater than any giant !!! David had learned a great truth, through past experiences with the lion and the bear.

If we will view our trials from heaven's viewpoint; our trials will become a blessing instead of punishment. Our hardships will become opportunities. Heavy burdens can become stepping stones instead of stumbling stones. We can make great progress through any hard experience when we realize that God is simply preparing us for future service in His kingdom.

As we learn to look at the adversity in our lives, through the eyes of Jesus, we will quickly see; that we have been given the some of the greatest honors. You are a highly favored child of God !

Here is a story that I read sometime ago that will help to illustrate what we have been talking about.

A young man, 27 and soon to be married, met his fiancé 7 years ago. Together they worked through what seemed like insurmountable problems. He adored her and she adored him.

The problems they overcame had made them stronger, and their love for each other grew tremendously. Both agreed that in spite of the difficult times the last several years were the happiest they had ever had. She had come from a broken home, infested with abusive and drug abusing parents and step parents. At 16 she left home, becoming a victim of a string of battering boyfriends who consistently told her she would never amount to anything and that no one else could ever love her or care about her. Then she met her husband-to-be and together they worked hard putting her life back together and creating a solid relationship. Financially it had been an extremely difficult struggle, often meaning dinner was minimal or non-existent. Her medical problems seemed all too persistent and draining for both of them.

Heavily in debt they survived, having each other to hold on to. But they used the difficult times to grow and strengthen, and they saw the value of those hard times.

They realized that they had what really mattered - each other.

Now, he sits in the hospital chapel, asking God why, after making it through all the multitude of problems, He could justify letting cancer quickly take her life away. This was the one last problem that they could not overcome. "Why, after several years of surviving and loving and caring and struggling have you chose to let this happen? Did care and love and all of our struggles mean nothing?" His bitterness was evident. Then, he received an answer as the thought popped in to his mind that "who better to give the mission of making the last years of this young woman's life ones of happiness, joy, and meaning. Who better to understand her and to learn and to grow with her?"

Somehow the young man knew that he was the chosen one. The young man then sank to his knees and thanked God for granting him this opportunity and apologizing for thinking it was a punishment of some kind.

The next day they were married in her hospital room. Her dream of finding the right man and getting married and being happy had finally been realized. The hard work, the caring, the loving, and the struggling were not in vain, but were of the utmost value and importance.

She died two days later, and the newlywed husband stopped by the hospital chapel once again to give thanks for having been given such a wonderful opportunity.

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Once again we see that opportunity and success are not doors to open, but mountains to climb. The mountains can be physical or mental. They can be real or imagined. But the higher the mountain, the larger the opportunity for the greatest blessing.

Many people miss opportunities simply because they don't recognize them. Opportunity is often come packaged with what seems to be a negative situation. All it takes is asking the Lord help you to un-wrap the opportunity within...

Joy can be found in the most unjoyful of places...
Happiness can be found in the unhappiest of places...
Positiveness can be found in the most negative of places...
Success can be found in the most unsuccessful of places...
The light and the good in any situation can be found if one looks long enough...
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Keep " LOOKING " unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith !