April 12, 2015
Page 7 E
When Adversity Comes: Why Me?
By Peggy Toney Horton
Sometimes I find that shortly after I have
read or studied a particular subject, I am presented with an opportunity to use
my newfound knowledge to help someone. Though this has happened many times, it
surprises me each time it occurs. I am awestruck by God’s perfect timing and
have no doubt that He is in control.
Recently, a friend who had just lost her
mother, was separated from her husband, and is faced with serious health
problems herself, told me that she had been taught that God would not put more
on her than she could bear. She is convinced, however, that He has done exactly
that. Her question: “Why me?”
I deemed this an “Aha!” moment because,
only the day before, I had delved into a study about why God allows adversity,
and was able to share with my friend some of what I had learned:
When adversity comes, we are forced to face problems and pressures
that are too big for us to resolve. In this way, God gets our attention. If life is good, we tend to ignore
Him. Becoming self-satisfied, we incorrectly assume that if nothing is wrong,
everything is right. However, God wants a relationship with His children, just
as we long for a close tie with ours, so when we are so involved with earthly
pleasures that we don’t have time for Him, He sometimes uses adversity to bring
us around.
Faced with new difficulties, we can’t continue
to pursue our goals, tasks, and relationships in the usual manner. We have to
stop and evaluate our situation, ask God for wisdom, obey His Word, and trust Him
to bring the help we need. Troubles point out our weaknesses and prompt us to
rely on God in ways that we wouldn’t unless we had significant needs.
C. S. Lewis wrote in his book, The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us
in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His
megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Think about what God did to Saul, who
later became the apostle Paul. As he was traveling to Damascus to arrest
believers, God struck him down with blinding light. Thinking his blindness was
permanent, Saul was now ready to listen to God. Realizing that Christ was the
Messiah, he immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He
is the Son of God (Acts 9:20).
Such is the influence of adversity. When
we are preoccupied with our own interests and desires, we cannot see the need
for His involvement in our lives, but things change quickly when trouble
strikes. Challenging times have been known to bring even the most stubborn of
us to our knees.
If God has allowed adversity to befall
you, He may be trying to get your undivided attention. He wants you to trust
Him. He wants you to talk to Him. He desires a relationship with you. Seeing
all things, perhaps He knows you are about to make a bad decision and wants to
help you avoid it. Whatever your circumstances, rest assured that God has a
purpose for everything He does. He may even have something exciting in store
for you.
The good news is, although He sometimes
allows us to have difficulties, God responds to the cry of His children when they suffer.
“The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all
their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).
Surprisingly, my friend listened to my
little sermon with genuine interest. When I had finished, she wiped tears from
her eyes and said, “Well, He certainly has my attention!”
Peggy Toney Horton lives in Nitro and can
be reached at pegylu@suddenlink.net
