All storms will pass ...

In every storm, our first instinct is to look for shelter.  When we cannot find shelter, we may just stop where we are, and pray for protection.  Some are prepared to drive right through the storm because they believe they will eventually exit into better weather.

It is the same with our life journeys.  How well prepared are we to weather the storms in our life?  I believe we can better handle the storms in our health, our career, or our relationships, if we are grounded in the real foundations that sustain life.

A tree may take a long time to grow, but if it is planted right, it will have deep roots that anchor it well.

All storms will pass, and that includes the storms of life.

"Adversity is like the period of the rain ...  cold, comfortless, unfriendly to man and animal; yet from that season have their birth the flower, the fruit, the date, the rose and the pomegranate." - Sir Walter Scott.

Handling Adversity

What kept us from bitterness?

 A man of integrity and godliness.

First, Job claimed God's loving sovereignty.  He believed that the Lord who gave had every right to take away (Job 1:21; 2:10).  Job looked up claiming his Lord's right to rule over his life.

Second, he counted on God's promise of resurrection.  "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26).  Job looked ahead, counting on his Lord's promise to make all things bright and beautiful in the life beyond.

Third, he confessed his own lack of understanding.  What a relief this bring!  He didn't feel obligated to explain why (Job 42:2-4).  Job looked within, confessing his inability to put it all together.

He rested his adversity with God, not feeling forced to answer why.

When we're looking in all the right directions, we won't take the wrong turn.

[Extracted from "Day by Day with Charles Swindoll]

A   ADVERSITY

B   BUILDS         

C   CHARACTER

Curse God, and die

Deprived of possessions, bereaved by the loss of his sons and daughters, and afflicted with a painful physical malady, Job's wife told him to "Curse God and die" - Job 2:9.

So how should we react to adversity ?

First, if you know Christ as your Savior and are faced with a time of trouble, come to the Lord with a prayer of humble submission. In other words, when you pray for healing or deliverance from some disturbing situation, be sure you do so with an attitude of complete yieldedness to whatever God sees best for you. God may allow our affliction to continue and lead us into a closer walk with Him.

Secondly, have confidence in God. Instead of looking upon your affliction as a sign that God doesn't love you, view it as a mark of His favor. Hebrews 12 : 6-7 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Romans 8 : 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Finally, we should endeavor to develop our faith while we are experiencing afflection. The Lord wants us to trust Him implicity. And our faith will grow if we study the Bible, obey its directives, and appropriate to ourselves the wonderful truths it reveals about the Lord and His promises.

Isaiah 55 : 8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

[Extracted from "How to Get Up... When you're Down! written by Richard W.De Haan]