THRIVING IN ADVERSITY

A botanist hired himself as an under gardener to a nobleman in a foreign country. His master received a beautiful plant as gift. Neither the nobleman nor his upper gardener was familiar with this plant. Believing it to be a tropical plant it was placed in the greenhouse, but soon the plant began to wither and die. The botanist happened to see this plant and immediately recognized it as an arctic plant. He immediately took it out of the greenhouse packing ice and snow around the pot and exposing the plant to the winter frost. Soon the plant was thriving again.

I’m sure that I too would have done a good job of killing that plant. I would have done my best to take care of it and protect it from the cold of winter. But I would not have thought to provide it with what was really needed either—the harsh conditions of adversity.

• . . . I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.
  Ephesians 3:1 NIV

Paul was a prisoner. He knew what it was to be in chains and held captive by armed guards. But Paul was not a prisoner of Rome. He was a prisoner of Christ Jesus! Paul understood that through his captivity his faith was being strengthened and built up. Persecution did not weaken him. It made him stronger as a believer. Thus Paul saw himself as the prisoner of Jesus. He would not try to escape, nor would he complain or become embittered. Paul was strengthened through adversity.

I wonder if we as Christians we are a lot like that artic plant. We are safe and warm inside the greenhouse (the church that is), but what we really need is to be put out in the cold (to face the adversity of the world that is). We enjoy being in the church, free from conflict and persecution. But what is the condition of our faith? Is it beginning to wither and die? Does our faith need to face the cold cruelty of a world still lost in sin?

Paul was a prisoner with a passionate purpose. He was Christ’s prisoner for the sake of the Gentiles—those considered outsiders. It seems that not only was Paul’s faith strengthened through adversity, but others came to faith in Christ too. All this happened because Paul was Christ’s prisoner.
I like being comfortable, but is the prosperity of the church actually our undoing? Are you willing to let Jesus arrest you and become His prisoner regardless of the cost? What do you think?