One important use of adversity, is that it brings discipline.
The tendency of prosperity is to make one careless.
It leads
to undisciplined living, which, in turn, always leads to weakness, to
failure, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness.
For the past generation or two,
some of our philosophers have been teaching the undisciplined life, telling
our young people to let themselves go, to follow their impulses, to give
reign to their passions, to deny themselves nothing they desire.
They have
taught parents not to correct their children but to let them run wild, to
live their own lives, to gratify all their propensities, to have their own
way in everything.
Many people have followed and are still following this
unrestrained, undisciplined way of life.
What is the result today?
The
undisciplined of a former generation, are now the mothers of this
generation.
As a result, juvenile delinquency has reached a peak far above
anything known hitherto.
The home life of former days, with all its rich
associations and blessings to the family and to society is today almost
entirely unknown in millions of homes or places called homes.
As a result of following this philosophy of "do as you
please"...we are an undisciplined nation.
Prisons and asylums are full. There
is one divorce for every six marriages. Suicides never were so common as in
recent years.
Has all this lack of discipline brought happiness? On the
contrary, there is more unhappiness now than our nation ever knew before at
any other time in its history.
No, undisciplined lives do not lead to
happiness, no matter how great the opportunities for gratification.
It
is only the disciplined life that can produce happiness, and very often
adversity is the only thing that will bring about the discipline necessary
to set our feet in the way of true happiness.
Sheltered lives are rarely
strong lives.
Why is military discipline and training so rigorous? Why
must soldiers be drilled and disciplined from morning until night?
It is to
bring out those qualities, characteristics, and abilities that will make the
difference between an ordinary civilian and a soldier.
Only troops that have
been rigorously trained for long periods are able to meet the shock of war
successfully, or to endure its hardships, or accomplish its purposes.
The
story of our marines at Guadalcanal and New Guinea is a vivid illustration
of the result of discipline and training.
God knows the need of discipline for His children and He
knows that truer, better discipline can come through adversity, than by any
other means.
Jesus speaks of himself as the vine and His people as
branches of that vine. "He prunes every branch that bears fruit that it may
bring forth more fruit."
John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
How are vines pruned? The gardener goes into his vineyard
and prunes his vines, often cutting away so large a portion of them that it
looks as though he would destroy them.
But they are not destroyed. On the
contrary, they bring forth an abundant harvest, much more abundant than
would have been possible had they not been pruned so thoroughly.
Are you a branch in Christ? If so, do not assume that you
are going to have an easy, happy time with pleasant circumstances always,
and never a sorrow or a care.
No! God wants you to bear fruit, an abundance
of fruit.
He knows you cannot do that when you are at ease and merely
enjoying yourself.
In the school of adversity He will from time to time
employ the pruning knife that will cut away from you many of the things you
do not wish to lose.
Christ is a wise gardener. He will not let adversity
prune you too closely, nor will He take away from you that which will not
profit you more by its absence, than by its retention.
By disciplining you,
He will strengthen you and instruct you, enlighten you and profit you.
Adversity develops Christian character.
We can develop patience, only as we have tests which require the use of patience.
We
can become steadfast, only by standing firm against opposition and
pressure.
We can develop loyalty, only by having that loyalty tested
and put under strain.
We often acquire wisdom, by passing through the
things that require wisdom.
We can get understanding, only by things
that compel us to learn.
Love may reach its highest capacity when it
has been severely tested.
Serenity comes to some people, only after
they have suffered and have been ripened by that suffering.
Boldness belongs to those who have mastered themselves in many a conflict.
If you needed help in times of adversity, to whom would
you go to seek that help? To one who has always had an easy and prosperous
time, one who has never suffered?
No, you want someone who understands; and
you know that only those who have drunk deeply of the cup of adversity
understand it and are able to give help.
Who are those who become great
souls? Are they not those who have dwelt long with adversity?
Yes, adversity
has its uses; adversity is often a blessing.
We would never know what we
might become or what we may do, unless we learn it through adversity.
~Charles Naylor
