top of page
Writer's pictureBible Brian

Accepting God's adversity


We humans are a self-entitled species. Unbelievers often go as far as to use the fact God hasn't given them a very specific blessing, or even any blessing, as evidence that God does not exist.


But here's the question: Does God really owe us anything? The answer is yes, wrath. But instead, He continues to cause the sun to rise on the good and evil, and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). Judgment is reserved for the end of this life, and for a lot of us, that's a long time.


So, as Job says, we're happy to accept good from God. So, "shall we not accept adversity"? Job lost everything except his health and his wife in just one day, receiving the news in one quick flow. In minutes, his entire world was destroyed before his eyes. And then his own health failed, so his wife tempted him to "curse God and die", and despite all his anguish and his pain, he called her foolish.


There isn't anything in this life we really have full control over. We can try. We even develop techniques and technologies to improve our own lives. But we use the Lord's creation for that. He wrote the laws of physics, He built the planet on which we stand, He made the heavens in which we float, He even wrote our genetic code letter by letter. It's all in His control. And so, even if you rely on these great advances, you are still relying on Him. You can't control the weather, you can't control your own health, you can't control the political climate, you can't prevent famine or war or plagues. All of the good that comes to you is from God, and all of that as a gift to you in spite of your constant rebellion against Him.


So, what right have we to complain when things go wrong? When we do face the trials which, put simply, the Bible does tell us to expect as believers, what right have we to complain? None. We're not even grasshoppers to God (Isaiah 40:22), so what does He possibly owe us? Nothing. Thus, let us say with Job that if we accept the good God gives us, we must also accept His adversity. At least we know that, in His infinite wisdom, the worst possible situations we could face will achieve something glorious.

8 views
bottom of page