How do you face ADVERSITY?

In his recent book "Habitudes for Communicators" Dr Tim Elmore writes in the opening chapter...

"Studies by Dr. Martin Seligman show that the critical determinant of success in life is resilience in the face of adversity. Awareness, contemplation and a sense of humor are your best friends in attempting to learn from difficult experiences and make sense of them for listeners."


Personally, I was struck by the TRUTH of this statement as I reflected upon my own life and journey into ministry! 

One of the challenges of life is to stay positive through the inevitable adversity that comes to each and every one of us. Time and time again, I am reminded of this as a pastor and a person of faith because it is a major struggle for many of us. When adversity comes very few of us want to learn from it (which is the core of awareness) we simply just want get through it as fast as we can! When tough stuff comes our way very few of us, especially those of faith, want to contemplate "WHERE" God is in the midst of it, we just want Him to hurry up and take away the pain or the difficulty! And to top it off, many of us rarely find our sense of humor in the middle of the struggles, in fact for many of us we are more prone to completely loose any semblance of a sense of humor in those moments!

Still it is hard to disagree with the findings of Dr. Martin Seligman who suggests that one of the SECRETS to success in life's journey is our ability to be resilient in the face of all that life can throw at us! In the Bible we have many instances of people who faced huge obstacles but remained firm in their trust, who remained resolved to ride the waves of the storms that came their way! Joseph, David, Moses, Ruth, Elijah, Jesus, Mary, Peter, Paul, and so many others stood strong in the midst of the challenges they faced and they often reflected on their awareness of God's presence in the midst of the struggles they faced!

I think "IF" I were to add something to Dr Elmore's statement I would simply add that FAITH and TRUST are vital to maintaining awareness and a sense of humor when we face tough times! Without something to hold fast too in the chaos that can make up many of the challenges we face it is unbelievably hard to maintain a sense of humor or to have the courage to look for "WHAT" God is up to in the stuff that comes our way!

However, there is still much to be said for the ability to be aware, contemplative, and humor-filled in the inevitable challenges and struggles of life. At the very least it keeps us in the best possible place to face the stuff that can find its way into all of our worlds! 

Striving to keep my sense of humor...

Rev Trev