When Adversity Strikes: What the Texas Ohio State Game Can Teach Us About Faith
Adversity is coming. The question isn’t whether we will face it, but how we will respond when it arrives.
During Saturday night’s dramatic Texas–Ohio State game, the announcers repeatedly talked about adversity. Texas found themselves down 23–3 in the fourth quarter, but instead of giving up, they fought back to win 24–23. After the game, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said adversity is part of the journey and that a team has to learn to respond when it strikes.
That football game provides a powerful picture of something Scripture has been teaching us for centuries.
Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). The Christian life does not exempt us from adversity. But God can use adversity to strengthen our faith, develop endurance, deepen our dependence on Him, and conform us more to the image of Christ.
In this episode, we look at several biblical truths about adversity:
• Adversity is not an exception to the Christian life.
• Adversity reveals and tests our faith.
• We can't change the previous play—we must take the next faithful step.
• God uses trials to develop endurance and hope.
• God doesn't promise to keep us out of the fire, but He promises to be with us in it.
• Adversity does not mean God has lost control.
• We shouldn't waste the trial; God can use it to change us.
Romans 5:3–5 reminds us that “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.”
Whatever adversity you're facing today, don't waste it. Ask not only, “How do I get out of this?” but also, “God, what do You want to produce in me through this?”
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