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Chaplain News
CHAPLAIN’S COLUMN
submitted by Chaplain David Guerrero
Responding to Adversity
The period from 1861-1865 proved to be one of the greatest
periods of trial and suffering in our nation’s history. A
significant lapse of time had passed since America had
engaged in the horrors of war. After the War of 1812, little
memory remained of the fact that war could be “hell.” A
veteran of the war with Mexico, General “Stonewall” Jackson
wrote to his wife and said, “People who are anxious to bring on war don’t
know what they are bargaining for; they don’t see all the horrors that must
accompany such an event.”
We have just gone through the Christian time of year where we recall the
time when Christ went through a time of adversity, a time of war if you will,
to give “His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). As we examine
His life we can discover how to face life’s adversity with the same type of
resurrection triumph.
How do we respond to events of adversity? How do we respond to the
challenges and difficulties of things we must engage upon due to the decisions
and choices of someone else? At the center of the gospel, we find God’s
response in Christ to the fall of man. His example is the model (as well as
the answer) that we must seek.
In the midst of adversity, Christ set His face toward the task before Him by
prayerfully seeking His father’s face and His father’s will. In the midst of
adversity, Christ remained patient and chose His words wisely. In the midst
of adversity, Christ laid it all on the line so that the purpose of His surrendered
will to His father could be accomplished. Christ’s approach can successfully
be ours as we practice what He taught by word and example.
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