Moving Beyond Your Circumstances

There are the big things in life that can knock us off our feet. But it really is the smaller setbacks in life that consume so much of our precious daily energy. It hasn’t been failure or fear this particular week that have kept me from being more connected to God. It’s been busyness, normal teenager drama, and a husband out of town. Just plain ol’ vanilla-flavored circumstances.I hate to be the first to point this out, but you and I will always have circumstances… sometimes big and sometimes small. So, we can live our lives swept to and fro by them… or we can learn a lesson or two from the Father of our faith: Abraham. I vote for ending the to-and-fro routine…In my Moving Beyond class, I recently taught on Paul’s description of Abraham from Romans 4:19-21. I remember reading the passage several months ago and being blown away by it. I thought, “I want this to be said of me!” Among other things, Paul says of Abraham:

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

He didn’t weaken in his faith. He didn’t waver considering the promises of God. He grew strong in his faith. He was fully convinced that God would do what He’d promised. He gave glory to God. Those are five really strong statements… and yet, if I’m honest, I wonder if even one of those could be used to describe me on my best day.Abraham had incredibly tough circumstances and yet he was so steady. How? I’m so glad you asked! You’ll get the Reader’s Digest version, but it starts with one critical step that you and I must learn from Abraham: He knew the promises of God.[bctt tweet="We must know the promises of God in order to believe the promises of God."]Abraham didn’t just wish harder than the rest of us. It wasn’t more determination. It was the fact that God had made him a promise. He was able to hold fast for so long because He knew God would keep His Word.In our lives, this works in two ways. We must know the promises of God. At Highpoint, we constantly talk about a priority time. This isn’t because it’s just the good Christian thing to do, but because we desperately need to know His promises so we can remain steady during tough circumstances. There are some promises of God that are made to specific people, but many promises are intended for all the children of God. Check out James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and Proverbs 3:5-6 just to name a few.The other side of God’s promises is where we often get in trouble. We frequently blame God when we encounter difficult circumstances as if He’d promised us a problem-free life. God’s big enough to handle our anger, but it’s often misguided. He told us we’d encounter trials. He also told us He’d never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5b).The next time a mild or even tough circumstance rolls your way, I encourage you to trust that He’s the only One who will never desert you along the path of life. In this fallen world, we will experience trouble, but God is the only One who can and will give you what you need to make it through. Circumstances are much easier to navigate when you remember who’s on your side.[bctt tweet="Circumstances are much easier to navigate when you remember who’s on your side."]