Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Zig Ziglar
Adversity Makes us Stronger
We have some 100 plus year old Walnut and Pecan trees in our yard, and they have seen their fair share of storms over the years, but instead of weakening them, the storms have actually strengthened them. You see, a tree grows most rapidly during times of strong winds. It does this to preserve its limbs and in the process, the tree becomes stronger. Can we see how adversity might work in the same way in our lives?
Adversity makes us Change
What is not growing in nature is dying. That is, if something is not growing…it is going to die. So too must we grow in the grace and knowledge of God (2nd Pet 3:18). When we fail, we must do something different. If our failure causes us to look for solutions, the adversity has done its proper work. That’s because success often comes from multiple failures.
Adversity Moves us out of our Comfort Zone
We could see adversity as something that moves us out of our comfort zone. It may make us fall on our face and pray to God for a solution or adversity may have us seek godly counsel. Whatever comes from adversity, may it be a positive thing in our life. Sometimes we get too comfortable and just drift along, but then comes adversity, and it shakes us down to the core and we evaluate our life. That can always be a benefit.
Adversity and Choices
When adversity comes, we must make choices. These choices should help to lead us to success, even if it brings a few failures along the way, but failure is never final. In fact, it can be a springboard to propel us to success. Success is never easy. Often adversity stands in the way, but you could look at it this way; adversity can be a door to success because it causes us to reflect on what’s going on in our life and to reassess things, and that could turn to success.
Conclusion
Zig Ziglar was a very wise man by saying “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.” Let adversity do its work; to make us stronger; to get us out of our comfort zone; to force us to seek a solution, so that we might see the choices we have left which could lead us to success.
