Pressing Forward Through Adversity

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Philippians 3:13b-14

Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴ I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly^[c] call in Christ Jesus.

(CSB)

Based upon his writings, the Apostle Paul must have been a sports fan.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 he equates a runner training for a race to one training for ministry by training involving spiritual disciplines.  A runner running a race will encounter challenges such as changing terrain as well as battle fatigue.  To overcome these adversities a runner depends on his or her training. 

Unfortunately, failure to spiritually train with spiritual disciplines prior to adversity leaves us unprepared spiritually.  To become spiritually prepared for adversity we must.

1)      Meditation – Meditation goes beyond simply reading the Bible and involves taking time to contemplate what it says and more importantly how it applies to our lives.  It is something done by Isaac, Samuel, Elijah, and Jesus (Genesis 24:63; 1 Samuel 3:1-18; 1 Kings 19:9-18; Matthew 14:13).  Athletes spend time in the gym training their physical bodies for competition.  Meditation is the physical gym training a child of God for adversity when it comes. 

2)      Pray – Athletes have coaches and trainers to help them compete victoriously.  For a child of God, the coach and trainer is God but, if a child of God does not spend time communicating with their coach and trainer, they will not be prepared for adversity.  Jesus faced the greatest adversity anyone could face when he took the sins of humanity upon himself on the cross.  In preparation for this adversity, Jesus routinely rose early in the morning to speak with His Heavenly Father (Mark 1:35).  Our requests in prayer must also align with the desires of God (James 4:3). 

3)      Study of God’s Word – Children of God are to abandon conformity to the world and its manner of thinking and experience transformation in thinking through renewal of their minds (Romans 12:2).  Just as study in education transforms one’s mind to learn their trade or profession, study of the Bible transforms our mind from worldly thinking to Godly thinking.  A mind transformed from worldly thinking to godly thinking is a mind prepared to handle adversity.

4)      Fasting – In preparation for competition, athletes spend time getting away from distractions to focus on the competition ahead.  Some refer to this as an athlete putting on their game face.  This fasting from distractions allows an athlete to achieve greater focus on his or her coming competition.  Jesus fasted prior to His temptation by Satan.  This fast caused Jesus to become hungry but also stronger spiritually as evidenced by the first temptation to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger.  Instead of giving in to the desires of His flesh, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 proclaiming His greater need for nourishment from the Word of God.  Overcoming adversity when it comes requires starvation of fleshly desires and regular feeding of the spiritual man with the Word of God.

I urge those reading this to dedicate themselves to a regular training regiment of meditation, prayer, study, and fasting to become spiritually strong and equipped to handle adversity.  Jesus told us that adversity would come but also that He overcame the world (John 16:33).  We too can overcome the world and adversity through the practice of spiritual disciplines.