Circumstances

May 8

The word circumstances keeps arising in my world this week.  A couple days ago I read an Adrian Rogers devotional in which he said:
"I ask some Christians, 'How are you doing?'
 They say, 'Okay-under the circumstances.'
How did you ever get there?  Circumstances are like a mattress. You're supposed to be on it, not under it.  Under the circumstances, you suffocate; on them you rest pretty well."

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Nancy Leigh DeMoss posted:

“We tend to look at the circumstances of life in terms of what they may do to our hopes and conveniences. When a problem threatens, we rush to God, not to seek His perspective, but to ask Him to deflect the trouble.

Arthur Matthews was serving as a missionary in China when the Communists took control. He spent years under house arrest with his wife and daughter, and his writings show what it’s like to embrace the plan and purposes of God in suffering.

'An escapist generation reads security, prosperity, and physical well-being as evidences of God’s blessing. When He puts suffering and affliction into our hands, we misread His signals and misinterpret His intentions.'

The next time you face a trial, don’t resent, resist, or run from the cross. Instead, embrace it and trust in the heart of the One who died for you."

Paul teaches us in Philippians about contentment in whatever the circumstances.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Philippians 4:11

Another message from Ms DeMoss this week:

"It’s natural to try and fulfill our longings by looking to people and circumstances. The problem is, people and circumstances inevitably let us down. When things don’t turn out the way we expected, we get disappointed. That’s why so many of us seem to be always disappointed!

For years, I looked to people and circumstances to make me happy. And what a perfect set-up that was for disappointment.

It was so liberating to learn that the deepest longings of my heart couldn’t be fulfilled by any person or thing. Things burn and break; they get stolen or lost. People can move or change or die.

But Psalm 16:11 says that fullness of joy is found in God’s presence. God may not fulfill all our longings according to our timetable. But ultimately, we will be fulfilled in knowing Him.

Are you looking to anything or anyone other than God Himself to fulfill the deepest longings of your heart?

So nibble on all that today and then join me tomorrow as I share an aside to this lesson related to the circumstances of those young women in Cleveland who were abducted and a back country road ride I took yesterday.