When troubles gang up on you, there are two possible attitudes to take. One is to become discouraged, even hopeless, and to give up.
This attitude is, of course, disastrous. For if you admit even to yourself that you do not have the ability to cope with things, your personal resources will not come into action.
The key to surviving adversity is to develop resilience. Resilience is just another word for your rebound, your comeback power, your ability to stand up to adversity and handle it creatively.
Philippians 4:13 insists that you, through faith in Christ, possess the know-how, strength, and persistence necessary to meet any situation. In a word, you have the power to change your life in adversity. Put all of your problems into God’s hands and believe, positively, that you can solve them.
Why should you believe this? Because “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Here are some techniques for how a resilient person—you!—handles adversity:
1. Organize an attack on your troubles.
You are stronger than all your troubles put together. But when many things are going wrong, the tendency is to be confused.
Have faith in your ability to think. Remember, the mind will not function when it is panicky. Only when it is calm and quiet will it produce those insights that are necessary to improve your circumstances.
Claim God’s promise: “My peace I give to you…Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Get your mind into a state of quietness. Then start thinking spiritually.
Say something like this: “Lord, you know my troubles. I believe that, with your help, I can think my way through them. Guide my thinking and give me right answers. Help me do things your way.”
2. “Prayerize” your adversity.
That curious word is not original. It was suggested to me by a man who decided to put spiritual techniques into practice in a difficult business situation.
In his prayers, he said he received guidance to work out the following three principles: “Prayerize, visualize, actualize.” By this, he meant that through prayer he got a clear understanding of how his situation could be improved, with God’s help.
He then practiced visualizing his goal, sharpening that concept until he knew exactly where he wanted to go. He held the image of successful achievement firmly in mind, visualizing a good outcome.
He worked hard toward such realization, and what he sought became an actual accomplishment. The Psalmist tells us: “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
3. Think in terms of opportunity.
Adopt a positive mental attitude, believing that with God’s help you will, out of your own intelligence, create a better state of affairs for yourself and others. In the midst of your disadvantages and troubles, look for an advantage. Study the situation until you find a ray of hope and light.
God is always on your side. Even in your darkest hour, never doubt it. God has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). And with God there is always a new day!
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