This afternoon I listened to an older sermon from Chuck Swindoll. Sometime in the 80’s he asked the question – How will you respond to adversity?

I imagine everyone reading this has faced their own kind of adversity along the way. Many of us are facing some significant challenges this very day. I know a pastor friend of mine who just lost his wife to cancer. I spoke with a friend yesterday who was diagnosed a year ago with a complex cancer. She is anxiously awaiting news from her doctor appointment this week. I have friends who are grieved by a wayward child and another who lost a son in a car crash just a couple of months ago. And as I typed these words, I received a text message from each of my siblings reminding me of the sadness we have felt with the loss of our mom last Spring.

Maybe, you haven’t felt a pain that has challenged your faith, but most if not all of us will. And then the question remains – how will I respond to adversity?

I have another friend I met with in the last couple of years, who abandoned Biblical faith when challenged by a tragedy. His faith evolved into something else because being faithful in belief in God’s word conflicted with his life. Consider this familiar passage –

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

While men literally wrote down the words of the Bible, those words are “God-breathed.” So if we will mold our lives accordingly, we will fully equipped to face the unexpected challenges ahead.