Welcome Adversity as Opportunity

Last Sunday after church I drove to Wales to spend two days running in the mountains with my friend Joel. I enjoyed some of the most spectacular views you could wish to see in the UK, but also battled extreme heat, grade 1 scrambles, knife edge ridges and tough descents. In any trail running, you know you will face significant challenges along the route.

Traversing Crib Goch to the summit of Snowdon.

We knew what to expect on our Snowdon recce, and had planned accordingly. When it comes to racing, though, there are always surprises! You never know what challenges will be thrown at you, and in an ultra marathon, something will almost always go “wrong”.

As the boxer once famously said:

“Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face” Mike Tyson

Storms, flooding, ice, stomach issues, broken gear, trips & falls, injuries, route changes, hallucinations, plagues of frogs (really) . One of the biggest determinants of success in ultras is how well you respond to these unexpected blows. We’re talking about adaptability - the knack for responding positively to a changing environment. These tribulations are not a distraction from the race, because the race is essentially a series of problems. When we perceive the race as a problem solving exercise it fundamentally changes our response to the difficulties that arise. We can welcome adversity knowing that each solution found is the next step on the journey.

It is exactly the same in the realms of Faith Endurance. Our response to adversity has a huge impact on our ability to maintain relentless forwards progress in our pursuit of Jesus.

“Longevity [of faith] is possible only by the extent to which you can adapt to the changes in the environment around you.” John McGinley, New Wine Leaders Conference 23

Jesus

Jesus was the master of adaptability. When faced with forensic probing by the religious leaders of the day, he took questions intended to be traps and turned them into opportunities to share his good news and further the cause of the Kingdom of God. When presented with sickness, disease and death he saw beyond the present reality to the hope beyond, bringing miraculous healing to the crowds. When faced with the ultimate adversity - his arrest, trial, punishment and death – he embraced the opportunity to accomplish what he came to do. He turned death into resurrection, loss into gain, defeat into victory.

Paul

The Apostle Paul is a wonderful example of adaptability in mission. When he visited Athens to share the good news of Jesus there for the first time (Acts 17:16-34), he was faced with a hostile, religious environment. Athens was a mish mash of religious, philosophical, pagan, spiritual, Judaic teaching. Rather than responding in fear, or backing down, or trying to avoid the problem, Paul saw the opportunity within it. He addressed the crowd:

“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you." Acts 17

Paul then went on to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, winning many converts in the process. How did Paul do it?

1) He slowed down to, listen, watch and observe. Rather than running away from the problem, he leaned into it, walking around the city to analyse the issues.

2) He looked to see where God was at work. What is the opportunity presenting itself? How might God be moving? What doors is God opening? In doing so, he saw this inscription to AN UNKNOWN GOD, and saw his chance to point to Christ.

3) He adapted the plan. I don't know what message Paul originally had on his heart as he approached Athens, but how he had a new message. He found the drop of truth within the shower idolatry and made that his primary focus. He told Athens that this unknown god had a name, and it was Jesus.

4) He cast fear aside and proceed faithfully. Paul shared the gospel of Christ which tielded a hervest for the kingdom. In doing so, Paul had taken a difficult situation and had navigated it to advance the Kingdom of God.

You

Consider the problems you are facing in your journey of faith right now. What if these challenges, obstacles and difficulties aren’t a distraction to be avoided, but mountains to be scaled? What if God is at work in the midst of adversity and presenting opportunities for your good and for his glory? Jesus Said:

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16: 33

On Snowdon we saw this incredible brocken spectre. The symbol of covenantal hope.

I find it difficult to imagine how followers of Jesus could ever be pessimists. As disciples of Christ we have every reason to be glass-half-full people - not because we are blindly optimistic about the temporal world and the suffering within, but because we have an “inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8) in the eternal hope we have in Jesus.

Hope is an essential companion to spiritual adaptability. It’s hope in Jesus that allows us to welcome adversity with a knowing smile, because we see the opportunity that God has placed within and beyond.

So may you take heart today.

May you relish the challenges that this day brings.

May you find opportunity in adversity.

---

This post is part of a series of short blogs titled Faith Endurance, based on a sermon series preached at St Peter’s Morley in Spring 2024. If you enjoyed this, subscribe (above on the left) to get notifications each time a new blog is released.