Faith in adversity

In the first century A.D., Judea was a Roman province.  The Roman governor, supported by a legion of troops, imposed Roman will on the Jewish people.  The Jews sought for deliverance; first, zealots sought to rebel from Rome, but were stamped out.  They looked for a Messiah that would deliver them from their oppressors.

Then Jesus Christ was born in the city of David.  He was the Messiah, but He came to deliver the Jews (and all others) from a more serious, though less immediate, enemy.  He saved His own from death and hell, and made atonement for their sins.

Most Jews were expecting a political Messiah.  They got a better one, but didn't most recognize Him.  Do we sometimes do the same?  Do we expect God to deliver us from the small enemy in front of us when in reality He is defending us from the bigger enemy farther away?  Do we sometimes murmur because we are not saved in precisely the manner we want to be saved?

Having faith in adversity means accepting that the Lord is in the process of saving us, and that what pain we are experiencing is for our own benefit.  Having faith in adversity means that perhaps the Lord will deliver us from the fiery furnace, but if not, then we will still be faithful unto death.  Then, having died, we will be saved in heaven.

When we have faith in adversity, we tell God that we accept His will for us.  We acknowledge that we are in His hands.  But really, were we ever anywhere else?