Adversity & Deliverance
David Ousley on the Christian Life
Like non-Christians, Christians usually deal with adversity—cancer, unemployment, temptation, an intractable husband, eating too much—by trying to get rid of it. Christians may do this by asking God to remove the adversity. (If a wife were particularly generous, she might ask God to make her intractable husband tractable rather than removing him.)
But what happens if God does not act forthrightly to remove the adversity? Christians may give up on God, or go on to the “try harder” approach. Pray more. Try different ways of praying. Ask other Christians to intercede for us. The assumption is that if the Christian gets his part right, God should come through. God’s part is to relieve Christians when they ask him.
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