January 3, Proverbs 24
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. - Proverbs 24:10
I lost my high school and college year books many years ago, when water leaked into the place I had stored them. The books were ruined.
I remember there was a quote beneath each senior’s photos in our yearbook. A quote to describe us (selected by people who may not have even known us) was paired with our names. The randomly selected quotation became part of the permanent history of our school.
The quote beneath my photo said, "Difficulties are the things that show what men are." I later learned it was written by Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived in the last half of the same century Jesus was on earth. The ancient words weren't written about me, but they were paired with my name, and I've thought a lot about that. Can you remember times when difficulty revealed weakness and immaturity in you? I can.
Solomon said the same thing with different words in our text: "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." It's absolutely true, isn't it? It's the crises, the hard challenges of life, that separate the men and women from the boys and girls.
Adversity is a test. It examines our determination, our will to persevere. It fathoms the depth of our faith as well as our strength. Peter wrote that trials test the "genuineness of your faith" (1 Peter 1:6-7). At the same time, God uses trials to strengthen and develop our character. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness" (Jams 1:3). But these marks of maturity only show in people who endure and come through the fire of trials.
As Paul and Barnabas returned home to Antioch from their first missionary journey, they went back through the cities they had visited before, strengthening and encouraging the disciples, saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Jesus told a persecuted church at Smyrna, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelations 2:10). The Scriptures agree that believing in God, loving God and serving him do not vaccinate us against troubles. Instead God's word assures us that, as Jesus put it, "In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
It's that last part of what Jesus said about troubles that encourages us as Christians. He gives us strength to overcome (Philippians 4:13). He promises to strengthen us by his Spirit within us (Ephesians 3:16). When difficulties in life test our strength, his power enables us to endure and overcome (2 Corinthians 12:9).
The difficulties that prove we're men and women are showcases and evidences of God's power working in God's people. If you are like me, you've probably been embarrassed and humbled by some challenges along the life path that exposed a lack of strength. But God's promise to bring us through and fortify us in the process should encourage us all to be fearless in the face of difficulties. They are, after all, the things that show what men (and women) are. (I included references to the verses I mentioned for a reason. If you need encouragement about God's help to face the troubles in your life, I encourage you to read and ponder them in your own Bible. The faith-building, life-changing power is in God's words, not mine. God bless you to be strong in the Lord and in his grace to you!)
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—January 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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