Learning from Adversity
Romans 5: 3-4:
Even in times of trouble, we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope.
WOW! One of my all-time favorite verses.
Knowing that our ‘pressures’ will develop in us… ‘endurance’ and ‘refine us’…
Reminds me so much of the process a diamond has to go through.
Under the duress of approximately 725,000 pounds per square inch, and at temperatures of 2000 – 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, a diamond will begin to form.
Now, talk about pressure? So we too face pressure… adversity… difficult circumstances.
Yet it is through the refining process, the letting go of what doesn’t serve us, that shapes us into something even more beautiful and brilliant, if and when we allow it.
So, as you are going through things, it sometimes helps to ask…
- What am I learning through this? (please make it obvious)
- How will I apply these lessons to my life?
- How is my character being shaped in this process?
For me, there was a decade in my life which was filled with so much adversity and some pretty big challenges. YET, my silver lining was I became even CLOSER to God and yielded to Him in so many more ways.
As some of you may know, back in May 2013 I had a severe concussion, which then caused fluid around my brain, then leading to atrophy. I was in a tail spin for the most part, searching for answers.
YET, through prayer, affirmations and an unwavering faith, I decided to turn it around and focus on the lessons.
I called this, Discovering A Trophy in the midst of Atrophy. Bottom line is,
you gotta go through it to get to it!
And it’s a process, and if you allow it to do a good work in and through you, you will shine brighter and more brilliant as a result.
And remember this:
Your talent is a gift from God. What you do with it, is your gift back to Him.
