Diverting from Calvin Miller, Oswald Chamber’s words were so powerful recently. He said, “The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity. God does not give us overcoming life – He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength.”
My kids were telling me of a message they had heard lately. The speaker had a car battery on the pulpit. He said, “This battery has two poles, the positive and the negative. If all this battery had was a positive charge, its power would fade and die. The same with the negative pole. Death is the result. However, if you want a battery to be of good use, it needs both postive and negative. We tend to run from the negative. "GOD, get me out of here."
These are two examples of the need for adverisity – call it strain to produce strength (like weight lifters), or the negatives of life that enhance the positive. Our natural bent is to pray that God would get us out of the adversity, when He really wants to use it in our lives to build character qualities that we wouldn’t have without the adversity.
. “Give thanks for all things. Give thanks in all things. For God wants to use all experiences we have to develop our character and to use for His glory.
Will check back with you in about a week. Going to Yellowstone
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