Adversity... You can't live with it, you can't live without it...

          Jesus chose His twelve disciples, they did not choose Him. "Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil?" (John 6:70) Jesus knew who would betray Him yet He chose him anyway, sending him out two by two with the other disciples, giving him power and authority to do certain things in His name. Jesus needed Judas. He needed him to get to the cross. That was His purpose for coming to this earth . . . to bring salvation to us. But He could not do it without an enemy. The key thing here is: He chose Judas because He had a plan, He had a purpose.
          We don't like adversity, in fact we would prefer to run from it. Yet, at the end of the day, we need adversity in our lives. We need enemies because it is our enemies many times who catapult us into God's plan and purpose for our lives; who help us to accomplish God's will for us. Joseph's brothers were his enemies, but thanks to them he fulfilled God's plan for his life. They tried to stop his dream from coming true but ironically instead they helped bring it to pass. Joseph faced obstacles and adversity along the way, each trying to abort his dream, but they could not. Instead they each brought him a step closer to realizing his dream. (Genesis chapters 37 - 41) That's what adversity does - it's plan usually is to destroy us, to hinder God's plan for our lives. But at the end of the day, God uses adversity to catapult us into our destiny.
          Adversity not only brings us into our destiny but it molds and shapes us, even prepares us for what God has in store for us. Adversity is the sandpaper God uses to smooth away our rough edges and sometimes before we can reach where we are going, God needs to "smooth away some rough edges." Adversity can help to "smooth away" anger, unforgiveness, traits that can hinder us in our walk with God. Let's face it, adversity is an integral part of our Christian walk. God says that in everything we should give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18). . .  He knows why!
          Joseph's character was being molded while he waited for his dream to come true. Here is where adversity was important, even necessary in his life. It wasn't necessarily anything he had done or was doing wrong. God needed to prepare him for his destiny. So, when the temptation comes to curse adversity, don't! God can use anything and anyone to get us to where we need to go. Some people and things we do have to avoid because they can and will try to abort our dream. But some people and things we cannot avoid because they are what God will use to bring us into our destiny.

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