Circumstances of Life

Have you ever been through a situation or circumstance that shook you—to the point that you lost sight of who the Father was, and even who you were? I think many of us have! A few years ago, I personally went through something that shook me, and because of His faithfulness, I came out okay and with a renewed perspective. I further discovered how circumstances can steal our devotion and affection away from Him… so, I thought I would write about it…

Let us look at Jesus (our premier example)…

If anyone had the right to opt out in the time of great testing, Jesus did. Think about it. One of His first sermons had Him thrown out of the city, with attempted murder by the religious leaders (see Luke 4:29). Yeah, the leading scholars of the day wanted to ring His neck, literally! Still yet, God’s Son remained focused on the task at hand, by being about the Father’s business. He didn’t allow His circumstances to dictate His stance – instead, He allowed His place in God to keep Him focused and faithful. It’s also interesting that Paul, in his letters, spent minimal time bringing attention to his adverse circumstances and instead, he spent a majority of his writing focusing on our stance in Christ.

CIRCUMSTANCES

“Circumstance” is a compound word, formed from “circum” and “stance”. Circum means, “surrounding or encircling,” while stance means, “a person’s posture.” When you combine these words, you get the idea that circumstances are “situations surrounding a person’s posture.” In other words, they are the winds (of advantage or adversity) that swirl around us while we are standing. Let that sink in for a moment.

How many times do we allow storms or successes brewing around us to affect our stance?

I marvel at the fact that although Jesus was severely tested, he was never shaken. He stayed the course of sonship, never wavering on the eternal truth that He was His Father’s favorite. Rather, it seemed as if the storms brewing around Him actually set a firmer resolve in Him to complete His Father’s mission. Again, His greatest testing (aside from the cross) was the wilderness temptations, and may I remind you that, after intense resistance, the Son of God came out swinging. He didn’t wobble out of the desert navel gazing in a pity party, rather Luke tells us this: “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.” Luke 4:14 (NASB)

Christ came out of testing with a brighter and more intense devotion to the mission He was sent to accomplish.

With Jesus as our great example, we can’t allow external pressure and circumstances to dictate our stance in the Lord, nor can we allow them to negatively shape our thoughts about who He is.

TESTING MY PERSPECTIVE

It was in the fall of 2008, that I underwent one of the greatest times of testing in my life. Misty and I had just bought a new house, and months before, I had also started a new job that included a significant increase in pay. This was all on top of our little baby girl, Olivia, being born earlier that year. It was an exciting time in our life. I mean, more money, new job, new baby – we felt like we were on top of the world. It was looking good until one day, my new job took a turn for the worse. Through a series of events, one of the “high up” employees practically turned against me and had my position eliminated. With a significant pay increase, we had practically built our life around my new job. What I thought was a major promotion and time of favor, ended up being an outpouring of pruning in my life.

So, in my ambition to overcome and get our house in order (to offset the job loss), I set out to lower our expenses. First thing on the list was to buy Misty a cheaper vehicle. I figured it was a start to cutting our bills. So, within a few days I had found an SUV at an auction in West Virginia. On my way home from the auction with her new (but cheaper) 2003 Ford Explorer, I heard a loud noise in the rear of the vehicle. I looked in my rear view to find smoke billowing up. Thinking the car was on fire, I immediately pulled over. Fortunately, the car wasn’t on fire, just broken down. As I sat on the exit ramp of I-75, I remember just laying my head on the steering wheel, wondering if any of this storm was going to cease. These situations individually carried little effect, but when you put them all together in the world of job loss, it seemed like everything was crashing in.

All of the sudden, the season of joy shifted to a time of brokenness and depression. I had never dealt with depression up to this point, and other than crying, I had no grid for dealing with it. Before I knew it, my vision became very cloudy. Within days, I found myself in a deep dark funk, unable to shake the feeling of hopelessness. I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders and the trust I believed to have, was being tested.

Although there are those who go through much more intense pressure and shaking, the point is, circumstances can often shake our view of who God is and who we are to Him. The “circums” of life can often dictate our “stance.” It’s just part of being human.

However, I never want seasons of disappointment to change my view of God. I never want my vision to be skewed from the reality that He is good and always in favor of breakthrough and transformation. Instead, I want to stay constant in the “stance” that He is my advantage in the midst of adversity.

I pray that Holy Spirit would help us to see the faithfulness of the Lord in every season, strengthening us to remain steadfast in Him. In the midst of circumstances, may we never be shaken from the place of knowing Him and who we are in Him. Amen!

This is an excerpt from my book, “Who Do You Say that I Am.” If you are interested in reading more, click here…