The word vicissitude is a big word and hardly used, but its meaning is very applicable to life. It simply means a change in circumstances or fortune; typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.” Another explanation is “changes that take place at various times in the life of an individual including situations when conditions become worse.”
We have also heard of life’s “ups and downs,” which means a succession of both good and bad experiences. The question then becomes: How should a Christian respond when confronted to the inevitable vicissitudes of life? The answer(s) can be found in God’s Word — the Bible or the Scriptures.
The Apostle Paul had more than a fair share of trials and sufferings. But he remains one of the Christian’s greatest role models. He shares some of his experiences in the Scriptures: “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I was adrift at sea. In toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:25,27).
Here is Paul’s reaction to suffering: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).
Paul also writes: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
Granted, most of us will not have to endure the type of pain and sufferings that Paul experienced. However, each of us, even as Christians, will experience various hardships. And in those circumstances, how should we react?
The Bible does not hide the fact that trials and various types of sufferings Christians will experience. On the contrary. Jesus said: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
The peace that Jesus refers to is: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). This is inward peace, the state of the soul of the Christian who, having entered into peace with God, commits all his anxieties to God through prayer with supplication and thanksgiving.
This refers back to Philippians 4:5,6 that says: “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
This is exactly how a Christian should respond when facing various trials. Remember, the Lord is always at hand. He never leaves or abandons us.
God also says: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall be burned, and the flame will not consume you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:2,4a).
Because of the vicissitudes of life, some may be asking “Is there any meaningful purpose in life?” Perhaps we should take a new or “refreshed” outlook on life to fully realize that without God, life in itself has no spiritual significance or purpose.
Paul wrote: “As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20,21).
Although Paul suffered so much, yet he was totally convinced that no matter what life offers up, Christ would still remain his “all in all.”
William MacDonald makes this commentary on what Paul says in the text: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” “Here, in a nutshell, is Paul’s philosophy of life. He did not live for money, fame, or pleasure. The object of his life was to love, worship, and serve the Lord Jesus. He wanted his life to be like the life of Christ. He wanted the Savior to live out His life through him. And to die is gain. To die is to be with Christ and to be like Him forever” (Believer’s Bible Commentary pg. 1963, Thomas Nelson Publishers).
In the Christian life, it pays to look beyond the present with all that’s taking place around us and allow Christ “to live out His life through us.” We are not in this present world forever. Even Abraham realized that this world was not his home.
The Scripture says this about Abraham: “By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac, and Jacob . . . For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:9,10).
That city is none other than God’s heaven itself. May we have the faith and desire as Abraham did.