Adversity

First we got held up at the border, and then we had a truck break down in the middle of the Mexican desert. Our Rocky Point Mission trip was not off to a good start! Half of us got about 3 ½ hours of sleep. The other half got 2 hours. Then we had to get up at 5:45 and build a house!

I expected some grumpy, whiny people. It never happened! Everyone worked hard – no one whined – and everyone supported the rest of the group. There is something about adversity that brings out our true selves. The true selves brought out on our trip were pretty great!

However I think something else was going on too. What are the odds of getting 27 people together, ranging in ages from 12 to . . . well . . . much-more-than-twelve, and having all of them demonstrate true mettle in the face of adversity? Even for Presbyterians, that is pretty extraordinary! Come to think of it, it’s pretty extraordinary for this Presbyterian. My true, inner self is not that beautiful, not that strong.

I believe there is also something about adversity that allows God to do some of God’s best work in us. When everything is going great, we don’t allow God much room to work in us. When tough times hit, then God get’s an opening.

I sometimes wonder if the problem with modern America is that we don’t face enough adversity. Hence less and less people turn to God and even those of us in the fold already don’t experience as much deepening of our faith as we should. None of us would welcome more adversity. No thanks! But there are a couple things we can do. The first is to make sure we open ourselves up to God when tough times do hit. And they will! The second is to seek to stretch ourselves, go on a mission trip, volunteer for something out of our comfort zone, go visit a neighbor who is dying, give more than we think we can, whatever. Sometimes God just needs a way in to our lives in order to make great things happen.