No professional
football team that plays its home games in a domed stadium with artificial
turf has ever won the Super Bowl. Could it be that climate-controlled stadiums
which protect players from the misery of sleet, snow, mud, heat, and wind
make them a little "soft?" Could it be that players who brave the elements
on a regular basis are more disciplined to handle adversity?
And how about the scientists who sequestered themselves in an artificial environment called Biosphere 2? Inside their self-sustaining community, the scientists discovered nearly every weather condition could be stimulated except one, wind. Over time, the effects of their windless environment became apparent. A number of acacia trees bent over and even snapped. Without the stress of wind to strengthen the wood, the trunks grew weak and could not hold up their own weight.
Someone named it, "The adversity principle." Problems make us stronger. An existence without challenge takes its toll on every living creature. I guess that's why James wrote, My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
The Apostle Paul said something similar. He wrote, We ... boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us (Romans 5:3-5).
Passing the Test
My experience with people, however, is mixed. Problems do not seem to make everyone better. Adversity makes some people bitter. When faith is tested, some folk flunk the test. Why is it that in some folk adversity produces character while in other folk adversity leads to a loss of faith?
Some people see the upside of adversity more than others. My wife, Trudy, certainly does. She manages a real estate office and for her, the glass is always half-full. Recently an agent in her office called her. She had lost a sale and was upset. A young couple had called the office and asked to see a house. The agent volunteered to show the house, but failed to ask the couple if they were working with another agent. When she showed the house, the couple loved it, and the next day wrote a contract on it--with their previous agent. Trudy listened to the story and said to her agent, "I know you are disappointed, but it's not all bad. What did you learn from this experience?"
Some people like Trudy (and James and Paul) see adversity as a chance to grow. They know in their gut that "what does not kill you has something to teach you." While most run from problems, they invite problems to lunch in order to interact with them, to fellowship with them, and to learn what they have to teach them.
A man in the midst of very painful trials said, "Praise God for the hammer, the file, and the furnace!" Think about that. The hammer is a very useful and handy instrument but to the nail, the hammer is a brutal master - an enemy who loves to inflict pain. The same holds true for the metal which has to endure the rasp of the file and the blast of the furnace for a new shape. Some people know the hammer, the file and the furnace have the potential to make them better. Such people stay with adversity long enough to allow it to teach them rather than destroy them.
God Never Lets Go
They, however, must know something else as well. They must know that God never lets go of them in the midst of adversity and pain, even though they may feel like it at times.
Several years ago, a man who had retired from Mack Truck gave me the bulldog pin which he wore on his lapel. He told me it was not only the symbol for his company, but also a symbol for his relationship with Christ. I said, "Does it stand for the strength of your faith?"
"No," he said, "it stands for the tenacity with which Christ holds on to me!" No matter what the failure or heartache, some people know that God never lets them go. In the midst of trials and suffering, they look for the light at the end of the tunnel and expect God's grace to get them through.
Study Partners
I also suspect something else may be at work here. Some people ace tests of faith because they have the courage to ask others for help. When I took Greek in seminary, I was floundering until I was invited to join a handful of other students to study for the upcoming test. We quizzed one another and clarified things we did not understand. I got a "B" on the test and got through Greek by staying with the group.
It is not easy to admit we need help. It takes courage to admit we are struggling, but without that, who would help? People who pass life tests seem to know that. They know God has given them others to help pass the tests life brings. Albert Camus said, "It was in the depth of my winter, that I finally learned there is an invincible summer." May that be our experience as well.
For the Group
1. One of the toughest tests I ever took in school was ...
2. A tough experience that God used for good in my life was ...
3. Where I am being tested today is ...