Growing Through Adversity

By Bishop FELIPE GAXIOLA

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

Growing is a natural process, necessary and important in all areas of life. Plants grow, animals grow, children grow, cities grow, knowledge grows, etc. In the same manner, Christ wants His children to also grow. No one desires to have a child that does not grow either physically or mentally. Let's examine the first step that a person needs to take who wishes to grow in Christ.

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We Grow Through Adversity - John 16:33
a. In the world, in other words, "in every place where you might go". We suffer outside and inside the church.

b. You will have affliction. Some synonyms for the word affliction are: sadness, pain, sorrow, anguish, difficulty, tribulation.

c. In a message to Smirna, the persecuted church, Christ said: "you will suffer persecution for ten days" - Rev. 2:10

d. The word tribulation is derived from "tribo" which in Roman times was given to the stone used in the mill where wheat was milled. There are moments in a Christian's life when they feel crushed like the wheat that is shattered by the millstone.

e. The Bible contains many examples of how God put Joseph, Job, Paul and many other through adversity for their faith to grow.

Adversity With A Purpose
When God permits us to pass through adversity He does so with a purpose. (Romans 8:18,28)

a. He permitted Joseph to go to prison with a purpose (Gen. 45:5) "Because it was to save lives that God sent me".

b. Elijah went to live by a dry brook and from there went to Zarephath to feed a widow and resurrect her son (I Kings 17:8-24).

c. The Apostle Paul preached and served the Lord with a thorn that tormented him (2 Corinthians 12:7).

Adversity is one of the methods God used to help us grow, however it is the less understood and less accepted. That's not to say that we shouldn't pray during the adverse situation through which we go through. Let's not permit negative circumstances to make us think that God doesn't love us. Let's learn to live contentedly and faithfully to God no matter the circumstances through which we go through.

Hebrews 13:5 says:

"Keep your lives free from greed and be content with what you have, because God has said 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'".

Rev. Felipe Gaxiola has a degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Baja California, Mexico and studied Psychology at the California State University of San Diego. A native of Mexico, he is the pastor of the Apostolic Church in Fresno, Ca. and is currently the Bishop of the Northern Central District of California in the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus.

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