Thoughts On… {Adversity}

| Allison

 

Imagine there were once two small stones who lay near one another in the streambed of a rushing river. As the years went by, dashing water and larger rocks both tumbled over them, and eventually the relentless conditions ground the first into smaller and smaller pieces until it was an unrecognizable heap of sand. But something different happened to the second stone.

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Instead of getting worn down by the surging flood, it simply stood fast and let the water polish it into a smooth, gleaming pebble. Instead of getting crushed by the grinding force of the other rocks, it simply rolled past, moving slowly down the river. One day, it arrived at the sea, and all was gloriously calm.

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Now, dears, you can probably see where I’m going with this, but let me ask you a question: as the river of life passes by, do you let the hardships polish you or shatter you?

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It’s so much easier to shatter, isn’t it? It feels like the constant trials and pressures of life cannot help but grind us into sand. It’s not hard to just give up and give in to self-pity. In fact, it’s far too easy, for me at least. And sometimes it almost feels good, in a miserable way.

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But we’re missing the point – or rather becoming bristling full of points instead of allowing them to be smoothed away. How we react to adversity profoundly influences how others perceive us, and this is especially important for Christians. Since we put our identity in Christ, it influences how others perceive Him. If we act like God’s not strong enough to carry us through everyday life, it begs the question, how in the world could He carry us through death? We’ve got to show the world that trials don’t define us – God does.

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Here’s another way to look at it. The other week in small group, one of the men was talking about how problems can come between us and God, and he compared it to an eclipse. I thought that was a really good analogy. Our worries are like the moon orbiting the earth, until one day they eclipse everything else. Did you guys watch the last eclipse? Do you remember how the moon hid the sun? Its dark circle looked just as big as the light, even though you knew it was really many times smaller. 

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So when it’s dusk in daytime and everything slips sideways and you are falling off the edge of the world, don’t forget, dear, the sun will come out again. It’s still there, shining and shining, and however big and dark the moon’s shadow seems, the sun is infinitely bigger and infinitely brighter, and in its blazing light, all shadows fade away.

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So when hardships surround us and we do not break, when people wonder why we’re still fighting, we tell them, we persevere because we have a hope beyond this world. We tell them, because when we hit rock bottom, the Lord is polishing this rough stone into a diamond of such brilliance that it will reflect his glory far brighter than before. And we tell them, it takes harsh sand to grow a pearl.

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Grow a pearl, dear. Be a diamond. Shine, don’t shatter. And when adversity threatens to eclipse all, hold fast to the Son.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4

***Allison***

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85 thoughts on “Thoughts On… {Adversity}”

  6. Ahem ahem, like I said before, this was lovely. AND YOU ASTOUND ME. So. You really did do a wonderful job on this and so many of us – INCLUDING ME – need to hear it. ♥

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  9. Beautiful!!! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ God works it all for the good of us who love Him. We will suffer in this broken world, and we may not understand why we suffer in the present, but God has a Perfect plan for us, and for His glory. He is worthy of all.
    ~Gracie

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  19. This is an amazing post! ❤️ I find it’s so hard not to just crumble during hard times but after I put my trust in God and I saw how he got my family through it, it makes the next trial easier to go through. Sorry, that was an awful run-on sentence 😆

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    1. Thank you! ❤ Oh yes, that’s so true! God has gotten us through so, so many things and so many answered prayers, how could we stop trusting him now? Ha ha, no problem. 😆 Sometimes you just need to run on a little. 😉

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    1. Aww, I’m SO glad to hear that, Lucy. (Not that you needed it but that you liked it. 😉 ) And wonderful! Well we HAVE hosted small group before at our old church, but that group was at our new church where we’re moving, so we just attended it. 😉 Thanks for the comment, dear, and you too!

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  29. I just read this, and let me tell you— this is so important to remember! I love the beautiful, poetic, analogetic {I made up this word. hehe. It means you use analogies, but in a poetic way 😆 } way you put things. Thank you for this post, it was a great reminder!

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  31. Adversity builds character. If you can keep pressing on through the hardships you will do well Allison 🙂 It’s nice to hear a young person clinging to wisdom when there is so much confusion in the world right now.

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  33. This post was really thought-provoking and powerful for me! Sometimes I’d like to hide up in a ball and pretend like problems don’t exist, and sometimes I’m like that stone: I give in to the problems. This post reminded me that even though problems come our way – the moon is not as big as the sun, and I have to stop pretending like it is. Thanks for posting this! I loved reading it 🙂 God has blessed you with writing skills that can deliver such a powerful message in just the right way 😀
    Lydia ❤

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    1. Aww, I’m so glad to hear that! Yesss, you’re absolutely right – it’s easy to (try to) ignore problems, but it never seems to help much, does it? Aww, thank you SO much! Your comment made my day! ❤

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  36. Pingback: My Sunshine Blogger Award | C R E A T E. I N. M E

  38. The post was beautiful and unique in a way. It was definitely inspiring. And the pictures again? Wow they are goood.

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