Is your life like mine where it seems that one adversity after another keeps hitting you and knocking you down?
My heart cries out those questions - Why God? What did I do wrong? Soon discouragement, depression, and plain just giving up in a puddle of tears and frustration usually follow me. However, being a pro now at tackling adversity so much, I am learning that though adversity follows me, I can determine the outcome of it! What? You can determine the outcome of it??? Yes, you can!
One thing I have begun to understand is first of all - life happens! I'm not being singled out because I did something wrong, it is just how life goes sometimes. Someone once said to me, "I love you but you know you are not more special than others - it happens to us all!" Wow, that was so true, here I had been thinking "Woe is me", I'm the only one who faces adversity. It is sadly a way of life, it just happens sometimes and for me, it seems lately one right after another! But why do we have to go through adversity? Can't we get a "Get out of Jail" card?
I recently went through an Author School by Havilah Cunnington and learned how to write a book. I have my first draft completed and am almost ready to send it to the editor next week and then hope to publish it by the end of summer. God put a topic on my heart to write about, "Holding Onto Hope Against All Hope". So I wrote about my life experiences and some of the great Heroes of Hope in the Bible, Joseph, David, Moses, and more. How did they hold onto hope in such adversity as they faced? I learned so much from these Heroes of the faith and share them with you to help you glean from their lives how they held onto hope and trusted God through the adversities life threw at them.
For now, I will just use my life example of the opportunity adversity gave me today and how I chose to handle it. Normally, I would resemble the gal in the image and just give up in defeat and be depressed and mope around with a "Woe is Me" attitude. But not today Satan! Today I chose to acknowledge the disappointment, figure out how to handle what was dealt to me today, and give God praise instead of the Why Me God.
How did I get to this point where I could praise God in the midst of adversity? Because I have seen Him time and time again, get me through things I never thought were possible! I have a great history of His provision, love, grace, and mercy on my life that I could remind myself of what He has done before and will do again! This gives me confidence that once more He will make a way when it seems like there is no way! He is that good of a God!
So as I sit here writing this, my fridge which decided to quit today with a freezer full of meat and no money to buy a new fridge and pay the repairman who is most likely going to say I need a new fridge, I am thankful God knew this was going to happen and He has already begun to answer!
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Thankfully, the apartment I rent in my basement is vacant and I can move my food down there until I know what the outcome is on my fridge. Which means I will not lose the food I had purchased for the rest of the month.
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I am thankful, I may get to shop for a new fridge today so I know I should not run into issues like this in the future. I know God is going to provide for me to buy the fridge if I need to.
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I am thankful that despite my funds dropping down to just enough to make it through the month, all my bills are paid and there is food for the table! In spite of my apartment not renting, I will make it through another month because God is Good and somehow He makes the money stretch! Perhaps my apartment didn't rent so it would be available for such a time as this?
It's all about perspective - am I going to focus on the adversity and my lack of funds to alleviate it? Or am I going to renew my mind and remember how God has gotten me through things more difficult than this when I thought there was no hope? The choice is ours and today I am happy to say I chose peace, trust, and hope that God knew I would be facing this today, and because of seeing Him get me through so much throughout my life, I KNOW He will get me through this! God is good all the time, especially when life is not! Hold onto hope against all hope - it works!