God’s Will In The Middle Of Adversity
Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. 1 Samuel 19:1 NIV
David was minding his own business one day, tending sheep, when God called him to be a king. He didn’t ask to be king, but God said he was the one. He turned out to be a great king. Imagine that? God made a good pick! David had a heart modeled after God’s, according to the Bible.
So, since God had chosen to bless David in such a way, why do we later find Saul trying to kill David? In fact, for some time, David is chased by Saul. David hides out, all alone, which is the setting we find him in during the writings of many of the Psalms. David was God’s choice for king and yet he was placed in incredible adversity.
What does this tell us? I think what it says to me is that sometimes God’s will for us will find us in the middle of trials in life. More importantly, I am learning that I cannot determine whether I am in God’s will based on whether or not my life is peaceful. Just because I have trials, doesn’t mean I am not in the center of God’s will for my life.
Think about Abraham who faced the trial of leaving his homeland; Moses who wandered in the wilderness forty years; Joseph who was sold into slavery; Nehemiah who had to fight off naysayers; Daniel who was thrown into a lion’s den. All of these great servants of God faced persecution, heartache, and trials beyond most of our imaginations. Yet, all them, during the adversity, were right where God wanted them to be, in the center of His will.
Yes, we would all like life to be peaceful, and it is true that we can have inner peace in the middle of the storms of life, but God has not promised us a life free of problems. In fact, we can be perfectly within His will and still be facing adversity. It is often through the process of life’s difficulties that God makes us more like Jesus.
Trust Him today, regardless of your circumstances! He’s working a plan!
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3 responses to "God’s Will In The Middle Of Adversity"
I agree with you Ron. I was going through the same scenario you have mentioned, and I was questioning my self am I really in the will of God?
Another “Amen” brother… I agree with Cindy. I so needed this today and when I fired up the RSS reader, there it was. I’m struggling with some things in my marriage that God has worked in me to bring me to a place where I am in His will and have a wonderful relationship with Him. But I have bruised my wife along the way and it’s that relationship that is giving me pain. I’ve prayed for Him to take it all and I’ve put it in His hands. But I know that just because I’m trusting Him doesn’t mean that it will all be smooth sailing. I’ve tried to be totally obedient to Him and be the best husband I can to my wife and to repair the hurt that I have done to her. I feel positive about how far I’ve come with His help, but right now am still uncertain about my wife’s feelings; this definitely falls under the classification of adversity. But no matter what, I am committed to Him and His relationship to me, committed to my marriage and to my wife. Thanks for being His conduit to bring to people like myself His healing Word.
Ron, Thank you so much for this post. I so needed it today. I got home from Church tonight and was slapped(Not litterally) in the face with lots of tempers going off. I wanted so much to just run back to Church and stay there for a long time. Since I can’t do that I decided that the best thing was to pray. I then found this on Facebook and wow did it hit home. Thank you so much for allowing God to use you in ways that others need. God is so awesome putting things in place to minister to others. Thank you for being used by God.