How God Can Use Adversity for Good
Romans 8:28 says…
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Satan has bad plans for your life. Jesus said his mission is to steal, kill, and destroy you. But Jesus came to give us life in abundance. When your world is shaken up, God can use it for good and still give you life in abundance. How? I want to give you 5 areas to consider when you’re facing adversity in your life – 5 ways that God may be able to use your adversity for good.
First, God may use adversity…
1. To inspect me.
Maybe there’s a character, thought, emotion, or motive in your life that needs to change. God can use situations in your life to inspect these areas and show you what might need to change. Jeremiah 17:10 says…
I, the LORD, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.
God knows what’s in your mind. He knows your motives. And he’s more interested in your integrity than he is in your image. Image is what everyone else can see; integrity is who you are in the dark when no one’s watching. God wants us to become increasingly more like he is in character.
So, the question to ask here is: What does this problem reveal about me?
God may use adversity…
2. To correct me
This is exactly what was going on in Daniel’s day. The Jewish people had strayed from God. So, God exiled them for 70 years to correct their behavior. And when they came back home, they were cured. Over in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 12, verse 5, here’s what we read about correction…
…My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives. Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?
And then verse 11 says…
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Did you benefit from correction when you were growing up? Sure you did! It’s how you learned to walk, talk, eat, read, write, behave, and everything else. You learned because someone cared enough to correct you. That’s what parents who love their children do. It’s proof that they love you. Correction is also proof that I’m part of God’s family.
The question to ask here is: What is this problem teaching me?
Instead of asking, “Why me?” ask, “What should I be learning?” God may be using adversity to correct you.
Next, God may use adversity…
3. To direct me
Proverbs 16:9 says…
A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.
You can make all the plans you want, but God is gonna direct your steps. Now, this doesn’t mean you’re a robot, and God is controlling every move you make. We still have free will. But God may use adversity to redirect where you’re going. For example, we rarely think about the direction of our lives when things are going well. When things are going well, it’s like we’re driving down the road on cruise control without a care in the world. But then, all of a sudden, we hit a traffic jam, or we get into an accident, and our attention shifts.
Problems often change our plans. Oftentimes, we don’t change when we see the light; we change when we feel the heat. This may be God’s way of redirecting you. So, what’s a problem in your life that you’re pretending isn’t a problem? What’s the big elephant in your life, in your marriage, in your relationship where you’re saying, “It’s not a problem”? God may be using difficulty in your life to inspect you, correct you, and redirect you.
Here’s the question to ask: Where is this problem leading me?
God may be using our problems to prod us, poke us, push us, and prompt us to redirect our paths.
Next, God may use adversity…
4. To protect me
This one might be the hardest to gauge because it’s often unseen. It’s the slowpoke driver in front of us that protects us from an accident. It’s a job we didn’t get to protect us from a messy relationship. It’s a break-up we went through to protect us from a nasty marriage. Sometimes, a problem is a blessing in disguise.
Many of you know the Old Testament story of Joseph. His brothers sell him off into slavery in Egypt, where everything goes wrong for him. His boss’s wife is so attracted to Joseph that one day, she comes onto him and throws herself at him, but he refuses her advances and runs out of the house. But later, she accuses Joseph of raping her, and he’s put into prison for the rest of his life for a crime he never committed. But in a series of circumstances, Joseph gets out of jail and ends up second in command and helping Pharaoh save the most powerful nation of that time. Even though it appeared everything had gone wrong in his life, God had him right where he needed him. In fact, when it was all over, Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery in the first place, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good . . .”
There may be people in your life who want to bring you down because you’re a Christian, or because you took a moral stance on an issue. They mean it for bad, but God may mean these problems for good. Or maybe there’s something bigger going on in your life than just what’s at the surface, kind of like a fever. When you get a fever, you feel pretty bad. But the fever isn’t the problem. The fever is just a symptom telling you something worse is going on that could be life-threatening.
The question to ask here is: How can this problem be guarding me?
Well, let me give you the last way God may use your adversity…
5. To perfect me
The ultimate goal of the Christian life is to become like Jesus. God wants us to grow in our character and mature in our faith. There’s no growing without some kind of pain. We say, “No pain, no gain.” So, the very thing that’s discouraging you may be the very thing God is using to develop you. In fact, your greatest pain could become your greatest purpose.
1 Peter 5:10 says…
The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.
The question to ask here is: How can this problem help me grow?
You may have heard this before, but our greatest problem is not our greatest problem. Our real problem is how we choose to respond to our problems. When we respond to our problems in a way where we trust God, praise God, and thank God, and where we maintain our integrity and don’t give up and don’t give in, then we’ll be able to live a mature, healthy, and thriving life in Jesus Christ.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.