Proverbs 24:10 - Homiletics

Fainting in the day of adversity

I. STRENGTH IS TESTED BY THE DAY OF ADVERSITY .

1 . The day of adversity will come . All have not an equally painful lot. It is only the pessimist who refuses to admit that God sends a happy life to some; and if the lines have fallen in pleasant places, nothing but ingratitude or sentimentality will deny the fact. Nevertheless, the dark day of adversity will rise on every soul of man. It cannot be eluded, though in youth and health the spirit refuses to anticipate it. It is well to be prepared to meet it.

2 . Strength is wanted for the day of adversity . This will be a time of assault, strain, pressure. The soul will then be besieged, buffeted, and in danger of being crushed. Therefore there is need of sufficient strength, not only for prosperous times, but for this harder occasion. The lighthouse must not only be strong enough to stand in calm weather; it should be able to resist the battering rams of the tempest. The ship must be built for the storm. The army that can look smart in a review is useless if it goes to pieces on the field of battle. The model navy is an extravagant ornament if it will not serve us in action. The lamp is useless if it goes out in the hour of darkness. Religion is for the time of trial and temptation. The spiritual life needs to be strong enough to hold on through terror, temptation, and trouble; or it is a delusion.

3 . Faulty strength will fail in the day of adversity . Trouble is trial. The season of affliction will assuredly be severe enough to prove our strength. It is vain for any one to live on empty beasts and idle pretences. The hollowness of such folly will be exposed at the fatal moment. The soft-metal sword will certainly double up in the battle and bring disaster on its unhappy owner.

II. FAITH AND COURAGE WILL GIVE STRENGTH IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY .

1 . To faint in the day of adversity is to make one ' s strength small . Such a collapse will undermine one's energy. The coward is always weak. To fear is to fail. But courage inspires strength, and he who is able to keep up a brave heart in the day of adversity is most likely to conquer. Few men have been called upon to endure such hardships and to face such perils as Livingstone, alone in the heart of Africa. Now, Livingstone was characterized by a wonderful buoyancy of temperament, by high spirits and unfailing cheerfulness. Nelson is said not to have known fear. Gordon was as ready to face death as to go to his daily duty. No doubt such heroic courage is largely due to the natural greatness of the men who possessed it But it is not independent of moral qualities. For:

2 . The secret of the highest courage is faith . He who trusts God is armed with the might of God. This is higher than natural strength, because "even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" ( Isaiah 40:30 , Isaiah 40:31 ). Thus there is a strength that is perfected in weakness ( 2 Corinthians 12:9 ).

3 . Therefore we have no excuse to faint in the day of adversity . With such stores of strength for the weakest, failure is culpable, Note: We are not to blame for meeting with adversity—we cannot escape it; nor for suffering under it—this is natural; but only for fainting, i . e . for collapse and despair. Yet even this may not mean utter failure. We may still have some strength, though it be sickly and fast ebbing away. Like Gideon's heroes, we may be "faint, yet pursuing" ( 8:4 ).