Adversity

Romans 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Adversity is the grindstone of life. Intended to polish you up, adversity also has the ability to grind you down. The impact and ultimate result depend on what you do with the difficulties that come your way. Consider the phenomenal achievements of people experiencing adversity.
-Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf.
-Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the History of the World during a thirteen year imprisonment.
-If Columbus had turned back, no one could have blamed him, considering the constant adversity he endured. Of course, no one would have remembered him either.
-Abraham Lincoln achieved greatness by his display of wisdom and character during the devastation of the Civil War.
-Luther translated the Bible while enduring confinement in the Castle of Wartburg.
-Under a sentence of death and during twenty years in exile, Dante wrote the Divine Comedy. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress in a Bedford jail. 

Just this past year, my student pastor's wife has had a very difficult and serious battle with cancer. Even when she went into surgery the first time not knowing the tumor was there, she had faith and believed that she would pull through. She has endured months of treatment and recovery, but I'm glad to say today she is living proof that you can endure suffering and difficulty with faith in God and still make it through. Sometimes the greatest miracles we need to see happen don't take place until we have faced the greatest obstacles we can face in life. Sometimes it's a grind, but instead of wearing you out it can polish you up.

Adversity is the grindstone of life. Will it polish you up or will it grind you down?

James 1:2-4 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."