Proverbs 24:10
Fainting in the Day of Adversity
1. In this proverb, Solomon states the obvious: if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
2. Those of us who have fainted in the day of adversity know this all too well.
3. Solomon doesn’t command anything here. He doesn’t even give us a warning. He simply makes a statement.
4. But don’t forget the purpose of a proverb: they are concise, abrupt statements designed to make us stop and THINK.
5. If we take the time to stop and think about it, then the proverb has served its purpose.
TERMS:
1. FAINT:
a. Strong’s: To sink down; to be disheartened.
b. Dictionary of Bible Languages: Hang limp; be feeble; i.e., be in a state of lacking power or force; lose courage; be discouraged; give up; to have a feeling or attitude of hopelessness and lacking courage to resist an opponent.
2. ADVERSITY:
a. Strong’s: Distress; anguish; trouble; tribulation.
b. Dictionary of Bible Languages: A state of very unfavorable circumstance, with a focus on the emotional pain and distress of the situation.
3. This expression “faint in the day of adversity” has been variously translated:
a. If you lose courage in the day of trouble… (Darby)
b. If you are weak in a crisis… (GNT)
c. If you are slack in the day of distress… (NASB)
d. If you give up when trouble comes… (NCV)
e. If you falter in times of trouble… (NIV)
f. If you fail under pressure… (NLT)
4. Unfortunately, discouragement is a part of everyday life.
a. We all get discouraged.
b. We hear bad news virtually every day.
c. We get discouraged when we hear what is going on in the world… and in our country.
• Moral standards are falling worldwide.
• The economy has taken a nosedive and doesn’t seem to be making a comeback any time soon.
• The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem endless.
• People are losing jobs and are struggling.
• Things often look hopeless.
• Morally and spiritually, things are not going in a good direction.
d. We get discouraged when we hear bad news about friends and family.
• Accidents, illnesses, divorces, drug abuse, victims of crimes, etc.
• The old saying has some truth to it: no news is good news – because usually news is bad…
e. We get discouraged when we hear bad news about our brothers and sisters in Christ.
• Almost daily we hear of a brother in Christ who has fallen away or got involved in sin.
• We hear of pastors getting discouraged and quitting…
• Believers getting discouraged and don’t come to church anymore…
• We are continually hearing about churches who have let down their guard… and have let down their standards… or have been drawn away into some “ism” or has split.
• We seem to be on an irreversible spiritual decline. That’s discouraging.
f. We live in a cursed earth with 7 billion sinners.
• Therefore, bad news is relentless.
• It comes in wave after wave…
• We don’t seem to have time to emotionally recuperate from one wave before we are knocked over by the next.
• You can take it for a while, but sooner or later, eventually, it catches up to us and becomes overwhelming.
• We FEEL like can’t take it anymore. It wears us out… it drags us down… it zaps us of our strength… and we become weary and worn.
• Our heart sinks down… we are dismayed… and a feeling of depression may take over.
g. This is what Solomon means when he says, “fainting in the day of adversity.”
• The precise KIND of adversity varies from one person to another… and from one period in our lives to another.
• But the response of “fainting” is universal among men and women.
• It is what Paul describes as a “temptation or testing that is common to man.”
5. Matthew Henry made a wise observation: “And often those that are most cheerful when they are well, droop most when anything ails them.”
a. In other words, those who are given to emotional highs are also given to emotional lows.
b. I have seen this often over the years. Those who appear to be inordinately upbeat and become “over the top” excited about good news are just as prone to become inordinately downbeat – discouraged about bad news.
c. Some people are just more emotional than others.
d. Those folks especially need to be careful about discouragement.
6. If you have or ARE experiencing discouragement – you are in good company. This subject is dealt with in the Bible from cover to cover.
a. Prov. 13:12 – Hope deferred maketh the heart sick:
• We have all had our heart set on something that we imagined or hoped would come to pass… but time goes on and it seems like it’s NOT going to come to pass.
• When our wishes, hopes, and dreams do not come to fruition, it can cause discouragement.
• Sometimes because our will is not always the same as God’s will.
• Sometimes we pray for years—decades—and see no answer. It can be discouraging.
• This too is part of life. Our hopes don’t always come to pass. This is one of the facts of life.
• It can cause great discouragement if we allow it to.
• I Cor. 10:13 – Remember that God will NEVER take us beyond what we are able to bear. That is a promise—regardless of how discouraging things may appear to the natural eye.
• God tests our willingness to wait… to trust… to rely on Him… He tests our faith and our faithfulness.
• Don’t get discouraged and quit—especially in light of God’s promise. Strength and grace are available for what He sends our way.
7. In times of adversity, often times our hands hang down and our knees grow feeble and we are good for nothing.
a. We become easy prey for our adversary.
b. We are not fit for service for Christ.
c. And spiritually this can result in a spiral downward.
• We are cast down in our souls and discouraged.
• We feel lousy and don’t want to be around people.
• We stop going to church… because people will notice.
• We stop reading the Word and praying.
• Discouragement BEGETS spiritual weakness.
• If we KNOW this, it is not wise to allow it to occur.
• Wisdom will NIP this process in the bud and not allow self to DWELL on the source of discouragement.
• Wisdom will force our nose back into the Book.
• Wisdom will demand that we get out of bed and go to Sunday school and church… and prayer meeting too.
1. We have all fainted in times of adversity. We have all fallen in a time of crisis. We have all given up in a time of trouble. We have all failed under pressure.
a. When else would we faint?
b. No one faints in the good times of peace, joy, prosperity, happiness, health, and blessing. What’s to faint about then?
c. Inner strength isn’t put to the test in good times.
2. The point of the proverb seems to be that strength that fails in a time of adversity isn’t much good!
a. What good is a brake on a car that works wonderfully, except when you really need it?
b. What good is a brick oven that cracks and falls apart when the fire is lit?
c. What good is a pressure valve that functions fine except when pressure is applied?
d. What good is inner strength that fails under the pressures of life?
e. A man is strong only if he is strong under pressure… strong when tested… strong in the time of crisis.
f. If we fail under pressure, our strength is SMALL (narrow; restricted; limited)
3. We have a tendency to THINK we can handle anything.
a. Those thoughts will one day be put to the test.
b. It is amazing how tests can reveal what we are really made of.
c. A test that causes one person to fall apart is sometimes taken in stride by another person.
d. And don’t go by outward appearances.
• It’s not how big and burly they look.
• It’s not how macho and bravado are their words.
• Sometimes the sweet, frail, little old lady can handle crises better than the truck driver.
• Solomon is speaking about INNER strength.
4. Eph. 3:16 – The point Solomon drives home is this: the trials, tribulations, pressures, and difficulties of life are the real proofs of whether or not we are “strengthened with might in the inner man”.
a. The weakest creampuff can SEEM strong and pretend to be strong when all is going his way.
b. The real question is, how will that inner strength hold up when it is really needed?
c. To Solomon, failing in time of adversity is a real character flaw.
• It is a sign of inner weakness…
• It indicates no resolve; no tenacity; no firmness of mind or heart; no stomach for the battle.
d. This character flaw comes to the surface in the lives of believers—especially if we have been taught a shallow, effeminate, crossless form of Christianity: Jesus loves you… you’re special… peace and happiness… etc.
e. That believer is often shocked and unprepared for the reality that Christianity is a BATTLE… warfare… full of conflict.
f. Note that Paul’s prayer is for INNER strength for the INNER man.
g. It’s good to be strong physically, but our warfare isn’t against flesh and blood.
h. Our warfare is against spiritual wickedness in high places that seeks to turn us away from God and spiritual things… seeks to cause us to trust in our own strength… and to walk in the flesh… and to be conformed to the world.
5. Verse 5 – Solomon may also be hinting here that there is a connection between strength and wisdom.
a. A wise man is strong and increases in strength.
b. Wisdom applied will result in a person becoming stronger and stronger spiritually… not weaker and weaker.
c. True spiritual wisdom will drive a man straight to the Lord.
6. I Sam. 30:6 – “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”
a. This was a demonstration of great spiritual wisdom and strength. (Wisdom and strength go together.)
b. David went straight to the Lord. He knew that if he thought about the situation too long, he would be discouraged and quit.
c. Wisdom drove him to the Lord… where he found encouragement and strength to continue.
d. And we know the rest of the story – from there he went on to victory! They regained all that they had lost.
7. For the believer today, spiritual wisdom demands that we KNOW what it takes and what is provided for, to BE strong in the inner man.
a. In his day of adversity, David went straight to the Lord to encourage himself.
b. We are challenged (commanded) to do the same—sort of.
c. Heb. 4:16 – We are commanded to go to the throne of grace in our day of adversity… in our “time of need.”
• However, this passage adds a new dimension.
• This present tense of this verb (come) commands us to be CONTINUALLY coming to the throne of grace… THAT we may obtain mercy and find grace and strength in time of need.
• The idea is not that we wait until the day of adversity or the time of need. That might be too late. Or it might catch us unawares.
• We are to make it our lifestyle to be coming to the throne of grace.
• Our inner man is to be renewed day by day.
• Prayer is usually the first thing to go when we begin to slip away… when we begin to slide backwards… when our spiritual life is waning.
• Thus, when the real crunch time comes, prayer (coming to the throne of grace) may already have gone by the wayside.
• Hence, to REMAIN strong in the inner man requires REMAINING strong, faithful, and consistent in our daily prayer life.
• The one who continually comes to the throne of grace WILL HAVE the grace and strength needed for that day of adversity – for that time of need.
d. Just GOING to God in our time of need is an expression of no confidence in self… and it is an expression of faith – confidence in God.
e. Acknowledging our own weakness is the first step to realizing experientially His strength in our inner man.
f. II Cor. 12:9 – “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
g. For when I am weak, then am I strong.
h. Real spiritual strength in the inner man is God’s strength in us. As Paul wrote in Eph. 6:10: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
8. Isa. 40:28-31 – What a great passage to mull over when discouragement strikes and we feel like quitting!
a. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”