Against the Wind

John 5:1-5

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Sometimes we’re tempted to wonder why God allows us to face adversities and troubles and hardships in life. Sometimes we’re tempted to think that maybe God isn’t here for us. Sometimes we’re tempted to think, as the devil wants us to think, that maybe God has abandoned us. Maybe we’ve done something so bad and so wrong that he’s just let us go off on our own. That he doesn’t care about us anymore.

Henry Ford once had a great quote that is encouraging for us as we face troubles and tribulations in our life. He once said When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. An airplane takes off against the wind. When airplanes are going down the runway, it’s helpful when there’s a headwind, when the wind is blowing directly at it. It actually allows the airplane to have lift and so it can take off and rise with less speed or even on a shorter runway.

And so it can be for us. I think the same can be said for us. When we face adversity, when we face trouble and hardship in life, when we face challenges, it can actually be a beneficial thing. God can be at work through these things to help us rise up. He lifts us up as these things come our way. This is what the Bible says about this and Romans chapter 5 beginning at verse 1.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. (John 5:1-5)

That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? That we should rejoice in our sufferings. Glory in our tribulations, how is that possible? Well, it is because God is at work, he’s the one building us up, lifting us up and even strengthening us in spite of these troubles and tribulations that we face as you and I face adversities. God is with us and he is building us up. He hasn’t abandoned us. He hasn’t left us. And so we can be assured that he is at work for our good.

What a beautiful verse we find, especially at the very beginning of that section. We have been justified by faith. And so we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. That’s what gives us confidence whenever we face hardship and trouble and adversity. We have peace with God. Look at what Jesus Christ has done for us, how he lived for us, a holy, perfect life. He earned righteousness that now becomes our own through faith. He took all of our sins. All of those times where where God should have abandoned us. Jesus took our guilt, our crime upon himself, and he paid for it all in full on the cross.

Our Lord Jesus also rose from the dead. And that gives us the assurance that he is victorious and that we have peace with God. So next time you face trouble or adversity or hardship in your life, you can trust that God is going to be at work through those things to lift you up, to help you rise above it. He will be there at work through those things for your good, and you can be assured of that because of the peace that you have with God through his Son, Jesus. And let’s pray.

Thank you, Lord, for the great peace that we have with you through our Savior Jesus, and we know that you are with us and for us, even as we face trouble and adversity. Amen.

God’s peace be with you.