Athenaeum Portrait - Gilbert Stuart

When I was a college student I considered going into education. So I took a class from a very well respected teacher, Rhonda Beaman, on educational theory. She was a great instructor and truly masterful in her art and skill of teaching teachers. One unit was on, “Adversity.” Her husband who was a psychologist presented a theory connecting a person’s ability to succeed in life with their ability to deal with adversity. He called it an “Adversity Quotient.” We took tests that demonstrated how adept we were at dealing with adversity and then were encouraged to take steps to improve our ability to manage adversity. This was essential work for teachers, it was argued, and for all human beings. Adversity is a problem in life that requires your attention and consideration. But what causes adversity?

Adversity

According to the book of Deuteronomy, “death and adversity” are a consequence from turning away from God:

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. Deuteronomy 30:15-18

Keep in mind that these words were shared at the end of 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. These are part of the final words Moses the great prophet and law-giver would share before he would die. These are words of promise and warning to a people freed from slavery and tyranny about to be given a land to call their own.

This historical situation of entering into a promised land as a new people is quite similar to the role that George Washington played at the founding of the United States. Laws, a constitution, and the federal government had to be formed to give us, American people, a structure and framework to live in. We had won freedom and a priceless opportunity to steer our own destiny. There was and still is a choice given to God’s people throughout history. If you are faithful to God you choose prosperity, and if your heart turns away from God, then you choose adversity. 

What if the adversity in the world today is a result of not being faithful to God? Some people try to blame others for their problems. They single out individuals or groups and blame them for the adversity in the world. Depending on whom you ask all of our problems are because of: liberals,