Acts 8:3-4
As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
One of the great character traits of the early church that caused it to make such a great impact on the world was its resiliency. When hard times came, they did not crumble, run, and hide; instead, they found a way to take hard times and turn them to their advantage to spread the Gospel. Instead of letting the hard times become their tombstone, they turned the hard times into a stepping block to increase their influence in the world.
One of the resilient times of the church was when Saul was making havoc of the church. As the church scattered abroad because of persecution, they did not scatter and quit, but they scattered and increased the preaching of the Word of God. It was the fact that they turned persecution into an opportunity to preach the Gospel in a greater way that eventually turned the world upside down for Christ.
Resiliency is one of the greatest traits needed if a church will make a great impact in its city. Resiliency causes a church with no space to come up with a solution not to let the lack of space cause them to quit growing. Resiliency causes the church to turn hard times into growth times. Resiliency causes the church to be more creative in financial difficulties so that they don't have to decrease the spreading of the Gospel. Resiliency is one of the great character traits of any great church or great believer. Resiliency is the ability to recover from difficulties by turning hard times into opportunities to see God’s power do the miraculous. There are three things needed to be resilient in difficult times.
First, determination is a must to being resilient. You cannot be quick to quit in difficult times and be resilient at the same time. Determination is a key ingredient to resiliency. When hard times come, you must be determined not to quit. Quitting is the easy thing to do, but determination does not allow quitting to be an option.
Second, creativity is a must to being resilient. You can complain and whine about how difficult it is to build a church, or you can become creative and find ways to use difficulties as an opportunity to get the Gospel out in a greater way. Creativity is one of the keys that is the difference maker between those who quit and those who succeed in difficult times. The early church became creative by sending people everywhere to preach the Gospel. Saul could only be in one place at a time; therefore, he could not stop the early church by them scattering throughout the world; he could stop them in one place, but he could not stop them everywhere. Their creativity is what allowed the Gospel to be spread further. Hard times are often the embers of creativity, but you won’t be creative if you are not resilient.
Third, faith in God is a must to being resilient. Faith is the substance that challenges you to be determined and creative in difficult times. If you don't have faith and attempt the impossible, you will not be resilient in difficulties.
My friend, being resilient is a choice. You will not be resilient if you don't choose to be resilient. You must decide that resiliency is the only option in tough times by choosing to find a way to turn difficulties into opportunities to do more for God if you are to see God use you greatly.