Coping with Adversity

The plan was simple. Our family was leaving for a get away the day after Christmas to Branson, Missouri. We loaded the car the night before so we could get an early get away the following morning. We ate leftovers for breakfast so we could get on the road. Everything went pretty smoothly getting out the house. The boys had a tv/vcr to watch movies and their video games to keep them occupied, I had a map and detailed directions how to pilgrimage to Branson, and we fueled up for long day of driving.
Anna Bell (our dog) was making her first road trip. She did not understand the importance of making time. We had not been on the road one hour when she began whimpering and pacing back and forth because she needed to go to the rest room. This was only the start of the adversity we would face on our little trip.
Anna Bell ended up needing to stop again about an hour later. Two hours and two stops. Not a great start. As we got into Oklahoma Brenda started feeling really ill and needed to stop. I found a little store in Kiowa, OK and when she came back to the car she started feeling even worse and needed to stop again. If you are counting we are less than four hours into our trip and we made four stops. We were not making good time and adversity was ever present.
We stopped at a restaurant for Brenda to get some relief and so the boys and I could eat. Our little meal in the only restaurant in town was very costly, I mean VERY COSTLY and we had were burgers. While leaving the café I backed into their sign, (praise the Lord there was no damage to the sign or the car; only to my ego.) We prayed for Brenda to feel better and she slept off and on for the rest of the day as we headed north and then east through Arkansas.
I got lost in Fayetteville, AR but finally made our way through some scenic mountains headed to Branson. We managed to turn that seven or eight hour drive into about ten. We got turned around in Branson but finally found the resort we were staying in with Taylor coughing, sniffling, and running some fever. One family vacation, two sick people, dozens of “are we there yet?”, one minor traffic accident (the restaurant sign)and ten long hours but we made it. Taylor felt so bad he did not even want to eat dinner but went straight to bed.
As the rest of our family finally found something to eat exhausted and road weary, I began wondering what kind of vacation it was going to be. We had faced a great deal of adversity just to get there and to top it all off we began getting weather reports that a major cold front and thunderstorms were headed our way. We got the brunt of it the next morning while doing some grocery shopping. And of course the rain really did not begin to fall until after we were in the store and were loading our groceries afterward. We spent ten hours on the road the day before and then due to the thunderstorms the kids could not outside and play in our little condo home for the week. More adversity.
All of us face adversity. It is part of life. Cars break down, computers crash, investments fail, and the health of our loved ones can deteriorate. My great aunt thought she was suffering from severe arthritis for years. Turned out she had cancer and she died only a few short weeks after the diagnosis. Her husband has preached for well over fifty years ministering hope to those coping with hardship but now he is facing a whole new kind of adversity.
Nobody gets through life unscathed. Everyone faces adversity on some level. Jesus did not mince words in Jn 16:33 when He said, “…In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Some translations use the words trouble, distress, or adversity. We have to learn to cope with it.
We coped with the dog, with two illnesses, and getting lost, and Taylor getting sick. We coped with the rain and the bone chilling winds. On the front end it might have appeared we were headed for a terrible vacation. The truth is it was one of the most enjoyable we have ever experienced. We laughed, played, worshipped, and feasted together. I urge you to not let adversity get you off track this New Year. You will face some along the way but our God will bring us peace and give us what ever is needed to cope with it. Peace. [Phil 4:6-7] Perseverance.[Rom Heb 12:1-2] Patience. [Gal 5:22-23] God is able to give those things in abundance. With the aid of God’s word, prayer, and old fashioned grit we can learn to cope with adversity. Don’t give up. Keep pushing forward to victory inch by inch, step by step, prayer by prayer, and day by day. We can all learn to cope with adversity with God’s strength [Phil 4:10-13].
Maybe this year has not started out so well for you. Perhaps more difficulties lie around the corner. Maybe adversity is pounding you to your knees like so many I have talked to over the past two weeks. I have ministered to the sick and infirmed, the discouraged, the oppressed, and those who are coping with heartache and sorrow inflicted by loved ones. Jesus gives us grace and tenacity to cope with adversity. Don’t you dare give up or give in. What may seem like adverse circumstances may turn into a blessing if you persevere like our vacation.