Facing Adversity

Meditation:

Bible Verse:

Isaiah 55:8, 9 (ESV) – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Additional Bible Reading:

Romans 8:28

Devotion:

 In our fallen world, bad things happen to people who do good things. The Aurora, Colorado, movie theater tragedy of July 2012 is a riveting example of this truth. When sin came into the world, suffering accompanied it. Our own foolish choices cause heartache.  Satan plots to destroy our lives and our Christian testimony, attempting to render us useless for God’s purposes in this life. For those who place their trust in God, we know that every adversity that befalls us has been sent or allowed by God to achieve his good purposes. In his love for us, he has the power to take every adversity and use it to grow us in faith, transforming us into the image of Christ.

Prayer:

Dear Father, in the midst of adversity, strengthen my faith in your good purposes.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 Challenge:                          

Reflect upon a time of adversity in your past when God used it for his good purposes.