Mastering our Circumstances

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”-Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Isn’t strange how sometimes Christians love to say that they have surrendered their lives to God, but when push comes to shove, trials reveal that there is so much they still need to let go of? Whenever things don’t do our way or something throws a wrench in our life plans, our first response is to whine, gripe, and complain. Then we somehow try to see if, on our own understanding, we can take our circumstances by the horns and master them. However, the bull usually throws us off and we are left not only back to where we started, but with our pride broken as well.

We like to take control of our lives because we think we know what’s best for us. After all, it’s our life so why should anyone else think that they know better than us and dictate to us how we should live our lives? But the truth is that we cannot control our lives half the time. Even when everything seems to be going according to the plans we have set for our lives, life has a way of sometimes completely derailing everything we’ve achieved and hoped for. We look to ourselves for solutions, but in our finite understanding we often fail to find any that would restore us completely. We then look to friends and other human sources in hopes that they would have an answer. Sometimes they might give helpful advice because they have the advantage of being a spectator as you live your life. But even they are fallible and prone to error, which results in them giving bad, if not well-meaning, counsel and only prolonging your misery.

Who then do we go to for help? God as revealed through Jesus Christ is the source of all perfect wisdom and comfort. If we surrender to Him, who is perfect and promises to work all things together for good, He will take our hopeless and bleak circumstances and turn them around according to His timing and will. It is hard to surrender to God because of our selfish and rebellious nature. But I have found that when one surrenders his circumstances and requests to God, he will not only be filled with peace, but God will take him on a fantastic journey. It will pull him from misery and despair, to joy and fulfillment in a way that will far exceed his wildest dreams.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.