The Lord of Adversity

I am seeing so huge that our God is the Lord of all adversity. At certain points in my walk I thought that my adversities were obstacles in the way of my pursuit of God. I thought they were hurdles that I needed to overcome – things that impeded my walk – and if not conquered, would prevent me from reaching my destiny. Today my question is: could they all be in place to shepherd me? Could God have used my adversity to direct and guide me towards Himself?

Hypothetical Adversity

Let me give a hypothetical example. Say you were born into a family of avid sportsmen, but you hadn’t a stitch of athleticism in your body. Maybe baseball was the drug of choice for your family but you had an arm that was weak and malformed. You could have been born this way or it could have happened in an accident. It caused you tremendous shame and heartache because you just couldn’t make the grade. You cursed and struggled with what you weren’t able to do and you were left behind under the weight of scorn.

Could God be over this adversity? Possibly could your inborn limitation be purposed of God to prevent you from your sporting pursuits? Could this thing that caused you such shame be God’s own jealousy for you and your attention? Or could He be saving you from an idolatry that could have led you away from Him?

Here’s another example. Say your parents put you up for adoption. They didn’t want a child and you would have ruined their happy plans. Though you were adopted, you feel a rejection that transfers into every relationship. You’re always looking for the other shoe to drop and you expect it will be at any minute. How could this lifelong pain of fearing rejection be God? Could it have been God saving you from a set of narcissistic people who would have destroyed you? Would their presence have been the end of any possibility of your salvation? Does your fear of rejection make you just needy enough to look to an Eternal Father’s love and rescue?

Your Adversity

You can fill in the blank with your own adversity. Maybe it’s not a physical malady. What if it’s a generational curse that has plagued you your whole life? That heart attitude from which you just can’t get free? This is not excusing it, for we will be accountable for our sins, but what if the original scenario was set in place to humble you and make you completely dependent? Could God be over the direction of even my own fallen nature? You see, I believe His sovereignty is beyond even my weakness, be it physical, mental, emotional or moral. He is either God of all or He’s not God at all! Christ is the Lord of all our adversity, no matter what that adversity might be.

Looking at Adversity

In looking at my life this morning, I’m seeing things about myself that I would’ve preferred to change rather than live with. But I also believe God has set them in place to constrain me. They were keeping factors unto Him. I was a headstrong and bold child, but a stronghold of fear prevented me from excess. I would’ve done or tried anything bar an inordinate fear of death. He used a generational curse of the fear of death to keep me until I was with Him. The fear was debilitating at times, but God in His sovereignty used it to keep me.

Now, God is not the author of evil but He is the owner of the book. I’m in awe of His control of even my willful decisions. Being His, I am His to maneuver through my life in whatever way He chose. God being this sovereign makes me understand the scripture to thank Him for everything.

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 TLB