What do I do when life gets crazy?
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT)
“Many years ago, A.J. Gordon went to the World’s Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, “That man is really pumping water.” But when he got closer, he discovered that it was a wooden man connected to a pump powered by electricity. The man was not pumping the water, the water was pumping him.” (Bible.org)
The illustration above shows that sometimes you can’t tell when people are in control of their own circumstances or when the circumstances are controlling them.
According to several dictionaries and places of definition, circumstances are conditions or facts that are relevant to the event. If you are in a financial bind, your circumstances will often dictate how you spend your money and what is most valued. When you are sick, your circumstances may include illness, disease, hospital visits, or prescriptions. Every one of us deals every day with circumstances. The facts or conditions of any moment in your life will impinge on your decisions and view of the world. Whenever you are making a decision, circumstances need to be taken into account. To best deal with a situation, you need to understand your circumstances.
Sadly, some people don’t take into account their circumstances, they let the circumstances control their decisions, feelings, emotions, and actions. For example, I’ve known children who grew so excited about opening presents on Christmas that by the time arrived to open the presents, the children were sick because of the increased anxiety. There are adults who are so fearful of spiders that they overspray their entire home with pesticides to the nth degree. They do not even care about the neurological damage they are unleashing in their own home upon all who live there. When you let circumstances get control over you, often you will be forced to make poor or even wrongful decisions.
A woman from Nebraska was known to be an excellent breeder of cats. Over decades, she helped develop a genetic hybrid of an incredibly special breed of cat. People often came from hundreds of miles away to see the special breed of cat she had worked so hard to nurture. However, later in her life the woman became obsessed with the hybrid cat. She kept these special cats isolated to prevent any illness from shortening their lives. Still, one by one, the cats grew diseased and died. When she was down to one breeding pair, the woman worked desperately to encourage them to bear kittens. Then, one died. Then, the other died. She was so overcome with grief that she couldn’t eat. In the end, her poor nutrition contributed to her early death.
When you let circumstances of life control you, you are at their whim. Your life and decisions and values and hopes and dreams will be determined by outside factors. Soon, the conditions of your circumstances will take over your choices. You will be ruled by your circumstances. You will lose control of your perspective. God will no longer be a consideration in your decision-making.
During the early 1930’s in Chicago and New York, people were afraid to walk downtown. That may sound odd to you, but it wasn’t to the people of that era. The Great Depression hit America in 1929 with the crashing of the stock market. Overnight, people lost all their savings. Homes were lost. Assets were gone. People went hungry. Lines for soup kitchens grew blocks long in the big cities. And, one unusual practice kept recurring. As some of the wealthy lost everything, they would go to the skyscraper roof or open a window up high in an office building in Chicago and New York and throw themselves out to die on the street below. This occurred often enough that people began to shun walking by tall buildings so to not be killed by someone committing suicide.
The wealthy who committed suicide in the early 1930’s were being ruled by their circumstances. Without their wealth, they saw no reason to live. Without a bank account loaded with money, they could not see any way out of their dilemma. Their losses contributed to the mindset that they could not live without lots of material possessions. For too many, the only way out of that dilemma was to commit suicide. Truthfully, these folks had many other options. They just let their circumstances control their destiny. They refused to listen to the voice of God calling them to another way.
Be careful that you never let your circumstances make your choices for you. Keep God front and center. Let God have the ultimate authority over your life. Don’t let fears or views or conditions or anything else take God’s place in your life. Don’t let circumstances control your decisions. Seek God’s direction.
The scripture for today reaffirms this. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul wrote that you need to “be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). If you “belong to Jesus”, you can’t let circumstances control you. You need to be thankful to God no matter the circumstances you find yourself. The day you stop being thankful to God, circumstances will attempt to control your heart and mind. Situations will bring about fear and worry. When circumstances dictate your attitude, your emotions will run roughshod over you. You will become overwhelmed. That is, unless Jesus remains your Lord and circumstances are understood in the light of a loving God.
When you are tempted to be afraid, seek God’s strength. When finances go out of whack due to unforeseen circumstances, don’t let your days and nights be overtaken with fears about tomorrow. Be thankful for every blessing you have in that moment. Be thankful that God has ultimate authority over your future. Be thankful that your sins may be forgiven, and grace can be accepted. In the end, just find ways to be thankful for all that God has done for you. Then, circumstances will not overwhelm you. Instead, God’s love will keep you under watchful care. This is “God’s will for all you who are in Christ Jesus”.
“Many years ago, A.J. Gordon went to the World’s Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, “That man is really pumping water.” But when he got closer, he discovered that it was a wooden man connected to a pump powered by electricity. The man was not pumping the water, the water was pumping him.” (Bible.org)
The illustration above shows that sometimes you can’t tell when people are in control of their own circumstances or when the circumstances are controlling them.
According to several dictionaries and places of definition, circumstances are conditions or facts that are relevant to the event. If you are in a financial bind, your circumstances will often dictate how you spend your money and what is most valued. When you are sick, your circumstances may include illness, disease, hospital visits, or prescriptions. Every one of us deals every day with circumstances. The facts or conditions of any moment in your life will impinge on your decisions and view of the world. Whenever you are making a decision, circumstances need to be taken into account. To best deal with a situation, you need to understand your circumstances.
Sadly, some people don’t take into account their circumstances, they let the circumstances control their decisions, feelings, emotions, and actions. For example, I’ve known children who grew so excited about opening presents on Christmas that by the time arrived to open the presents, the children were sick because of the increased anxiety. There are adults who are so fearful of spiders that they overspray their entire home with pesticides to the nth degree. They do not even care about the neurological damage they are unleashing in their own home upon all who live there. When you let circumstances get control over you, often you will be forced to make poor or even wrongful decisions.
A woman from Nebraska was known to be an excellent breeder of cats. Over decades, she helped develop a genetic hybrid of an incredibly special breed of cat. People often came from hundreds of miles away to see the special breed of cat she had worked so hard to nurture. However, later in her life the woman became obsessed with the hybrid cat. She kept these special cats isolated to prevent any illness from shortening their lives. Still, one by one, the cats grew diseased and died. When she was down to one breeding pair, the woman worked desperately to encourage them to bear kittens. Then, one died. Then, the other died. She was so overcome with grief that she couldn’t eat. In the end, her poor nutrition contributed to her early death.
When you let circumstances of life control you, you are at their whim. Your life and decisions and values and hopes and dreams will be determined by outside factors. Soon, the conditions of your circumstances will take over your choices. You will be ruled by your circumstances. You will lose control of your perspective. God will no longer be a consideration in your decision-making.
During the early 1930’s in Chicago and New York, people were afraid to walk downtown. That may sound odd to you, but it wasn’t to the people of that era. The Great Depression hit America in 1929 with the crashing of the stock market. Overnight, people lost all their savings. Homes were lost. Assets were gone. People went hungry. Lines for soup kitchens grew blocks long in the big cities. And, one unusual practice kept recurring. As some of the wealthy lost everything, they would go to the skyscraper roof or open a window up high in an office building in Chicago and New York and throw themselves out to die on the street below. This occurred often enough that people began to shun walking by tall buildings so to not be killed by someone committing suicide.
The wealthy who committed suicide in the early 1930’s were being ruled by their circumstances. Without their wealth, they saw no reason to live. Without a bank account loaded with money, they could not see any way out of their dilemma. Their losses contributed to the mindset that they could not live without lots of material possessions. For too many, the only way out of that dilemma was to commit suicide. Truthfully, these folks had many other options. They just let their circumstances control their destiny. They refused to listen to the voice of God calling them to another way.
Be careful that you never let your circumstances make your choices for you. Keep God front and center. Let God have the ultimate authority over your life. Don’t let fears or views or conditions or anything else take God’s place in your life. Don’t let circumstances control your decisions. Seek God’s direction.
The scripture for today reaffirms this. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul wrote that you need to “be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). If you “belong to Jesus”, you can’t let circumstances control you. You need to be thankful to God no matter the circumstances you find yourself. The day you stop being thankful to God, circumstances will attempt to control your heart and mind. Situations will bring about fear and worry. When circumstances dictate your attitude, your emotions will run roughshod over you. You will become overwhelmed. That is, unless Jesus remains your Lord and circumstances are understood in the light of a loving God.
When you are tempted to be afraid, seek God’s strength. When finances go out of whack due to unforeseen circumstances, don’t let your days and nights be overtaken with fears about tomorrow. Be thankful for every blessing you have in that moment. Be thankful that God has ultimate authority over your future. Be thankful that your sins may be forgiven, and grace can be accepted. In the end, just find ways to be thankful for all that God has done for you. Then, circumstances will not overwhelm you. Instead, God’s love will keep you under watchful care. This is “God’s will for all you who are in Christ Jesus”.