They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. ~ Romans 8: 38-39 (The Message)
Do you ever get caught up in your circumstances? Do you ever feel that the "bad" circumstances that come your way are somehow directly related to the quality of life you have? I definitely correlate my happiness with my circumstances a good bit of the time. If things are rolling along and everything and everyone are in sync then I am one happy mom. However, you let some interruption or less than desirable event walk its way onto my life's stage, and I definitely find myself falling into that pit of frustration and maybe even sadness. Then what do I do? I start pouring all my energy and time into trying to fix the situation or control it. However, Jesus tells us over and over and over again that our happiness and contentedness (Is that a word?) should not depend on our circumstances but on Him and His promises.
Ah, so there is the answer to my problem--I need to remember to focus on Christ rather than my circumstances!! I was thinking about Paul when he was writing to the Philippians. Now he had a lot of reasons to be frustrated, worried, despondent, depressed, angry, etc. Paul was wrongly imprisoned. He was chained to a Roman solider all the time and threatened with execution. But what did he do? He continued to praise God and spread the message. (I love that song by Ray Boltz entitled "I Will Praise the Lord!" Boltz sings it as if he were Paul talking to Silas while in prison. Awesome song.) I read where in the book of Philippians, which is only 104 verses long, the name of Jesus is mentioned FIFTY-FIVE TIMES! And the focus is where? On Jesus! In Philippians 1:21 it says "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Paul realized that no matter the outcome of his circumstances, he would win! If he was set free, he would continue to preach. If he was killed, he would be with Christ! He was a winner no matter what. He was even winning for Christ while in prison. He was able to witness to the Praetorian Guard and the Roman soldiers. Do my circumstances allow me opportunities to share Jesus that I would have had if I weren't in the midst of my current circumstances?
So why must I endure bad circumstances? Oh, how often have I asked that question? I've come to learn (but honestly not always practice what I have learned) that a better question is "What does God want me to learn?" God doesn't cause the negative circumstances, but He does allow them so that we can become closer to Him and learn to depend upon Him for and through all things. We can always, always, always trust that God is working in our lives for good. (Philipians 2:13 and Romans 8:28) We can always, always, always trust that God is with us and knows our needs. Proverbs 15:3 says that His eyes are in every place. God knows our circumstances and knows what our needs are while we are induring circumstances. He also knows how He is going to work it all for good. We have to trust that God loves us more than we are capable of understanding. God doesn't just "have" love; God IS love.
I'm writing this entry for me to remember that even when I feel the weight of the world upon me, I need to focus NOT on my circumstances but look upward and focus on God who loves me, wants to have a relationship with me and who created and controls all things in the universe. I need to remember Paul. He could have had a very long pity-party, but he chose to focus on Jesus Christ instead. No matter how difficult my circumstances, I can make the same decision Paul made. I can choose to look to Jesus. Where will you look?
Do you ever get caught up in your circumstances? Do you ever feel that the "bad" circumstances that come your way are somehow directly related to the quality of life you have? I definitely correlate my happiness with my circumstances a good bit of the time. If things are rolling along and everything and everyone are in sync then I am one happy mom. However, you let some interruption or less than desirable event walk its way onto my life's stage, and I definitely find myself falling into that pit of frustration and maybe even sadness. Then what do I do? I start pouring all my energy and time into trying to fix the situation or control it. However, Jesus tells us over and over and over again that our happiness and contentedness (Is that a word?) should not depend on our circumstances but on Him and His promises.
Ah, so there is the answer to my problem--I need to remember to focus on Christ rather than my circumstances!! I was thinking about Paul when he was writing to the Philippians. Now he had a lot of reasons to be frustrated, worried, despondent, depressed, angry, etc. Paul was wrongly imprisoned. He was chained to a Roman solider all the time and threatened with execution. But what did he do? He continued to praise God and spread the message. (I love that song by Ray Boltz entitled "I Will Praise the Lord!" Boltz sings it as if he were Paul talking to Silas while in prison. Awesome song.) I read where in the book of Philippians, which is only 104 verses long, the name of Jesus is mentioned FIFTY-FIVE TIMES! And the focus is where? On Jesus! In Philippians 1:21 it says "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Paul realized that no matter the outcome of his circumstances, he would win! If he was set free, he would continue to preach. If he was killed, he would be with Christ! He was a winner no matter what. He was even winning for Christ while in prison. He was able to witness to the Praetorian Guard and the Roman soldiers. Do my circumstances allow me opportunities to share Jesus that I would have had if I weren't in the midst of my current circumstances?
So why must I endure bad circumstances? Oh, how often have I asked that question? I've come to learn (but honestly not always practice what I have learned) that a better question is "What does God want me to learn?" God doesn't cause the negative circumstances, but He does allow them so that we can become closer to Him and learn to depend upon Him for and through all things. We can always, always, always trust that God is working in our lives for good. (Philipians 2:13 and Romans 8:28) We can always, always, always trust that God is with us and knows our needs. Proverbs 15:3 says that His eyes are in every place. God knows our circumstances and knows what our needs are while we are induring circumstances. He also knows how He is going to work it all for good. We have to trust that God loves us more than we are capable of understanding. God doesn't just "have" love; God IS love.
I'm writing this entry for me to remember that even when I feel the weight of the world upon me, I need to focus NOT on my circumstances but look upward and focus on God who loves me, wants to have a relationship with me and who created and controls all things in the universe. I need to remember Paul. He could have had a very long pity-party, but he chose to focus on Jesus Christ instead. No matter how difficult my circumstances, I can make the same decision Paul made. I can choose to look to Jesus. Where will you look?
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