Many people face adversity throughout their lives. It is how they deal with it and the choices they make that sets some apart from the rest. There is no denying that some people have more negative experiences than others. Some will end up going down a dark road, surrendering to what they see as a hopeless fate. Others choose to be defiant against less-than-promising odds and work harder to overcome it. It is the third category of people who not only turn their own lives around by overcoming the circumstances in their lives, but who also have a positive impact on others.
Bad things happen to everyone, more often for some than others. Not simple things that shouldn’t have a long-lasting effect like having your car break down. Significant, traumatic events like losing your home, someone you love, or becoming critically ill. One example that many people have shared over the last decade is the loss of employment. When you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, there are a number of different ways that you might respond. For example:
- Reach out to friends or family for help
- Search for a lower level job than you are qualified for
- Begging to strangers
- Stealing from those who are more fortunate
For those who have faith regardless of what happens in their lives, prayer can be another way of getting beyond adversity and making it to where they need to be. Those, who truly believe that God has a plan for them, also believe that he will provide them with what they need to complete that plan. Through prayer, they receive what they needed without resorting to those methods that are deceitful or otherwise wrong. Making the choice to accept God’s plan for their lives instead of giving up to the events that plague it will make the difference in whether their entire life is destroyed or they are successful.
Although some people may be able to retain their faith after one event in their life, those who seem to be on a disastrous path may not recognize that the events are meant to drive them in a different direction for their lives and they may lose faith.
Second Baptist Pastor Brent Phillips
From the time when he was 2 years old, Pastor Brent Phillips learned what adversity was and how it could impact your life. That was the time that his father decided he, his brother and mother needed to live somewhere else. Not unusual for a child of that age, Brent prayed that the dog would also be thrown out of the house. When he was, Brent’s first prayer was answered. Brent’s prayers continued to be answered, leading him in the direction that God had planned for him, even when Brent thought that his life would go in an entirely different direction. Pastor Brent Phillips became a senior pastor in the Second Baptist church at the age of 34 where he preached for the first time in his life without questioning how God should use him. He needed and wanted nothing other than to help others in finding Jesus.
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