Adversity

Over the last couple of days I have communicated with a couple of different friends who are experiencing quite a bit of adversity in their lives or the lives of their loved ones. I was reading a paragraph in the Life Principles Bible and feel that it is just what God would want to tell them.

It’s a message that we all can personalize and take to heart because God’s promises are for each one of us. Insert your name in the blanks and receive the comfort and encouragement that His word gives.

“Through adversity, God is molding _______________ into a mature and effective servant. When _____________ knows Christ as his/her Savior, God sees him/her as a saint – sometimes struggling, sometimes falling, but justified, redeemed, forgiven and reconciled to Him. He sees ___________ as a person full of His unconditional love, indwelt by His presence, sealed by His Holy Spirit of promise, whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He sees all of your potential _______________, all the good you could accomplish for His kingdom. So take comfort _____________, adversity won’t take up permanent residence in your life. But when it’s present, it can develop good things if you’re willing to trust Him. Therefore, no matter what dark moments you may walk through _____________, be confident that He’s going to bring you into the light. And when He does, it will certainly be worth it.”

My Prayer

Father, I thank you for Your encouraging word and I pray that it will bring the strength and encouragement to those in need. I pray for my friends and their family members that they will find their hope in You. Their struggles are real, they are personal and they are big, but You Lord are bigger and Your word says that their adversity has purpose. Help them trust in You and see the purpose in their situations. You are a good and loving Father. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Where does my help come from?

2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”