31 Faith-Building LessonsSample

LESSON 31

How to Maintain Your Joy in Adversity

Have you been experiencing adversity lately? Have you had more than your share of adversity? Are you beginning to understand the true meaning of the word adversity? As long as you are on this planet and you are believing God, adversity will come. But I want to share with you what you can do in the midst of it. Adversity doesn’t have to mean that it is all over for you.

Adversity is part of Christianity. In fact, true Christianity is a fight. If you’re not fighting the devil, then there is the possibility that you are no longer a threat to him. The devil doesn’t bother people who never bother him. Let him know this is serious business with you.

I believe you would agree with me that we are in the day of adversity. There has never been a time of greater adversity against the Church of Jesus Christ since its conception. You can read in the Book of Acts about all the adversity the early Church had, but that is nothing compared to what the Church will experience in the days to come. God has allowed you and me to be a part of the generation that will usher in Jesus. If the devil fought the early Church as it started, he is most definitely going to fight it in these last days.

It’s no wonder the Church has come under great persecution and opposition. It’s no wonder ministries have fallen. It’s no wonder there is greater reproach on the Church than ever before.

I understand it fully. The Church has never been more dangerous than it is in this very hour. Satan is running scared. I am convinced he senses that Jesus is coming soon, even more than the Church does. He knows his days are numbered, and he’s headed for a bottomless pit. He wants to cripple and destroy as many of God’s people as he can before he’s locked away.

I believe that everything that is happening now – this warfare that we’re in – is what God has trained us for over the last 53 years. I feel like someone who has been sitting on an army base somewhere in peacetime. He’s been trained to fight, but he can’t fight. Somebody might say, “You mean you haven’t had any battles?” Oh, I’ve had battles all right, as far as I’m concerned, they were just drills. We’re going to war now!

When I was in boot camp during the Vietnam War, they didn’t just jerk me up and send me to Vietnam the first day. That would have been a good way to get killed. They loaded me on a bus to boot camp as a civilian, and I had to renew my mind on how to be a soldier. It only took me about three days to realize those people were serious.

God is serious about His army, too. The days of playing church are over. The days of talking the talk and not walking the walk are over. You won’t make it from here on out just playing religious games. You will make it because you’re serious with God. This is not just Sunday business to the devil. It is 24 hours a day, every day of the week. He’s got one thing on his mind – kill, steal and destroy.

The devil means business, but so does God. God is still greater than the devil, and He intends to win, whatever the cost. God truly believes that we are going to pull this off. I am so glad that God has not been moved by what He has seen in the Body of Christ. I’m so glad He hasn’t turned to Jesus and said, “Son, they’re getting worse. You must have died in vain.” No, He hasn’t done that. We’re the generation that God’s been waiting for to put Satan under the feet of Jesus and to make him His footstool.

Notice what Proverbs 24:10 says, If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Many of God’s people are fainting. I’ve been in churches all over America, and I have never seen more Christians fainting in my 53 years in the ministry. I have never seen more Christians’ faith shattered than I have in recent years.

The Bible says if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. The Living Bible says, If you are weak in a crisis, you are weak indeed.

The time you want to be the strongest is in a crisis. It is so important to be strong in church. It is important there, but that’s not where it counts. Anybody can be strong in church. The Body of Christ is experiencing its greatest crisis. The Body of Christ has come under greater attack, collectively and individually, than it ever has before.

Many people have experienced the greatest attacks they’ve ever known. Some of you are still under the blow of those attacks and have not yet recovered. Some of you are standing in a very, very strategic place right now. You can either go one way or the other. You’re on the verge of fainting, or you’re about to have a breakthrough.

That’s where being strong counts the most. It’s not when everything is going well, when you have all the money you need, when all the family is saved, when the job is going fine, or when you’ve got abundance. Anybody can be strong in that kind of environment. It’s when Satan has launched a major attack against you, and it looks like there is no way out that being strong is of the greatest importance in your life.

I’m finding out that many “Word people” got caught up in the attractiveness of this movement and have never built a solid foundation. Many people have been swept into it because it’s exciting and attractive, but that’s not enough. If you don’t build a strong foundation, your emotions, feelings, or the excitement won’t get you over when a crisis comes. If you have a foundation in the Word of God that you’ve built day in and day out, no devil will be able to shake you. I’m finding that many of these people who are fainting in adversity never had a foundation to start with.

Jesus described two people in Luke chapter six. Both of them heard the Word and received it. You can’t pick out hearers only in a crowd; everybody looks alike. It’s only when crisis comes that you pick out the doers. When adversity hits, you will detect hearers only immediately. Concerning the man who built his house without foundation, Jesus said, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great (Luke 6: 46-49). Notice this man was in an environment where he was hearing the Word, but he was not a doer.

We’re living in the day when Satan is creating a lot of storms, floods, and adversity. The attacks are not going to lessen as we continue; they’re going to become more intense. They’re going to increase. If you haven’t built a solid foundation on the Word of God, you’d better start now because you haven’t seen anything yet.

But on the other hand, if you build a solid foundation on the Word of God, it makes no difference how intense the attacks may be. Jesus said when you see all these things and hear all these things, see that you be not be troubled (Matthew 24:6, Luke 21:9). It doesn’t matter how severe it gets, those who build a solid foundation on the Word of God will overcome, endure, and come out on the other side victoriously.

The Bible tells us in Nehemiah 8:10 that the joy of the Lord is your strength. Remember what Proverbs 24:10 said, If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If the joy of the Lord is my strength and I faint because my strength is small, then my joy is small. Strength comes from joy. If you don’t have joy, you don’t have strength. If you don’t have strength, then you are weak. If you are weak, you cannot resist. If you cannot resist, the devil will not flee. If the devil doesn’t flee, you do not win.

I am finding most Christians who are fainting are people who have allowed Satan to diminish their joy. If you remember in the Old Covenant, every time God’s people were totally outnumbered and faced impossible odds against their enemies, God never said, “Bring the skillful swordsmen and trained warriors to the front.” God always told the leader of that day to bring the singers, praisers, and people who were full of joy to the front line. All the praisers would come to the front line and see they were totally outnumbered by the enemy. But they did not faint or run. They stood up and, in one voice and one accord, began to sing the praises of God. The enemy was always confounded, humiliated, intimidated, and defeated.

That’s exactly what happens to the devil. He plans and schemes for months and months to set you up for the kill. He launches the attack, and when you stand there and say, “Hallelujah, Jesus! The Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever!” That’s not what the devil expects you to do. He expects you to faint. He expects you to drop your weapons and flee. He has no defense when you stand under the worst attack and say, “Devil, you might steal everything I’ve got, but you can’t get my joy, my faith, and my trust in God!”

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small, and your joy has been diminished. I can tell you the reason why - you’ve backed away from the Word. Jesus said in John 15:11: These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. Jesus is saying, “If you’ll hearken to My Word, it will create joy.” Joy comes by hearing the Word! If you don’t have any joy, you won’t have any strength. When adversity comes, you’re going to faint.

James says to count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations (James 1:2). The time you don’t ever want to be caught without joy is when you’re being tested. In the midst of adversity, calamity, crisis, or the worst attack you’ve ever experienced, don’t be caught without joy. You cannot be defeated when you have joy. The devil may steal every earthly possession you have, but if he can’t get your joy, he can’t keep your goods!

I don’t think people realize just how powerful joy is. Faith is like a stick of dynamite, and joy is the fuse. Many people go around with a lot of dynamite but no fuse. You may have all the faith in the world, but if you don’t have joy, your faith will not explode. Have you ever seen Christians try to make confessions without joy? They are not confessions of faith. Faith always comes by exclamation, not with a question.

Let’s look at an example concerning joy. If you were to drive from New York to Dallas, you would get further down the road on a full tank of gas than a fourth of a tank. Even if you started out on a full tank, you would have to stop somewhere along the way to fill up. Can you see that you will get further through the adversity on a full tank of joy than you will with no joy! If adversity comes to your house and your joy is not full – you’re running on about an eighth of a tank of joy – you won’t get very far. It won’t take a whole lot of adversity to wipe you out. But with a full tank, there’s a strong possibility you will endure more. Not only that, but you can fill up with joy in the midst of adversity. That’s the reason you need to be where the Word is being preached when you’re in adversity. When you’re in trouble, don’t run from God but to Him.

From Psalm 27, I want to give you a checklist on how to maintain your joy in adversity. This is not a law but a checklist that will help you:

1. REMEMBER YOUR COVENANT.

Verse 1 begins with The LORD is… You must believe God is whatever you need Him to be in adversity. If it’s sickness, He is the Great Physician. If it’s poverty, He is the Source of your supply. Notice the moment adversity came, David began to acknowledge Who God is in adversity. David is saying that in the midst of adversity, the Lord is his light and salvation. You can’t say Who God is and be sad, discouraged, weak,you and fainting. If you’ll remember your Covenant (or what God is to you), it causes joy to arise.

2. DON’T CAST AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE.

Notice what the end of verse 3 says…in this will I be confident. Hebrews 10:35 says, Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. It is our choice whether or not we cast away our faith and confidence.

3. KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS.

Verse 4 says…to behold the beauty of the LORD… If you take your eyes off Jesus, you will plant them on the circumstances. If you plant them on the circumstances, they will convince you that they are greater than Jesus. Do not pretend there are no circumstances or problems instead attack them by keeping your eyes on Jesus. Jesus will be magnified, and the circumstances will be minimized.

4. KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE WORD OF GOD.

Verse 4 also says…to inquire in his temple. In Hebrew, the word inquire means to meditate.

5. ALWAYS EXPECT GOD’S PROTECTION.

Verse 5 says… he shall hide me… God has already told us what we need to do in times of trouble, but now He’s telling us what He’s going to do. In the midst of adversity, always expect God’s protection.

6. KEEP PRAISING GOD EVEN IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES.

Notice verse 6 says…therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy…I will sing praises unto the LORD. David is praising God in the time of trouble. You might say, “As soon as the manifestation has come, I will praise God as never before.” That is backwards. You have to shout and praise God in the midst of trouble. That is what causes the trouble to flee.

7. DON’T EVER STOP BELIEVING.

Verse 13 says, I had fainted (or I would have fainted), unless I had believed to see… If you stop believing, you will faint.

When the devil says, “Why do you have joy in the midst of this adversity?” you just tell him, “I see things you can’t see.” When you can see what others can’t see, you maintain joy when they’re fainting.

8. DON’T GROW WEARY.

Verse 14 says, Wait on the LORD: be of good courage… Don’t let weariness come into your life. Galatians 6:9 says, And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. You have to fight off weariness.

9. ALWAYS BE EXPECTANT.

Verse 14 also says… and he shall… If you do your part, “He shall.” I expect God to do something everywhere I go. I expect God to bless me in the most unusual places and circumstances.

If you use this checklist in adversity, you will see what will happen to your joy level. It will get your joy level up where it belongs. And if you’ve got joy, you’ve got strength. If you’ve got strength, you cannot be defeated!