The Winds of Adversity
In 1987, 50 miles north of Tucson, Arizona, the Biosphere 2 was launched, an effort to study an enclosed artificial ecosystem. Every ecosystem needs trees, and trees grow rapidly in this protected environment. Everything seemed to be going great until one day some trees started falling over for no apparent reason. Jonathan Haidt in The Anxious Generation explains, “The designers had not realized that young trees need wind to grow properly. When the wind blows, it bends the tree, which tugs at the roots on the windward side and compresses the wood on the other side. In response, the root system expands to provide a firmer anchor where it is needed, and the compressed wood cells change their structure to become stronger and firmer.” (p.72)
One of my prayers for Valley View has been that we would grow into mighty “Oaks of Righteousness” (Isaiah 61:3). Of course there are many factors that go into an acorn becoming a mighty oak, but one is the stress the wind puts on the tree that forces it to become stronger. I’m guessing these little trees, if they could talk, would say, “I don’t like this wind. This is uncomfortable. Please go away!” And yet without the wind, the tree would not grow strong, durable, and mighty.
Suffering Produces Endurance
I don’t know all the reasons why God allows challenges in our lives, but at one level the challenges we face help us grow into mighty oaks of righteousness. This is why our memory verses for the month of July are Romans 5:1-5. There’s a key section in verses 3-4: “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Like a muscle needs resistance to grow, so our spiritual lives are deepened by the challenges we face.
I’m not minimizing the reality that some have faced horrific things in life, evil things brought upon them by evil people. We live in a fallen world and God has allowed free will, and with that comes many unexplainable tragedies and events. And yet over the normal course of life I think many of us would say our greatest seasons of spiritual growth have happened, not in the easy times, but through weathering the winds of adversity.
This is why we memorize Scripture, so that when the winds blow, our instinct is to turn to the words that have pre-programmed our hearts and minds to trust in God. We hide His Word in our heart now to transform and renew our minds. Romans 5:1-5 is a long passage to memorize, but simply listening to the song version makes it impossible not to memorize. Listen to this song once a day in the month of July and you will likely memorize it without even trying.
As Colby shared Sunday, there are many reasons why the church grows. As we store up God’s Word in our hearts, He will open doors for us to tell others all throughout PRP, Valley Station, Shively, Fairdale, and all of the South End of Louisville, about the hope we have in Jesus Christ!