Turn of Events

Today I read an article about dealing with pivotal circumstances and I loved the practicality of it. The article was written by Reggie Joiner (Turn of Events) and it challenged me to go into my next pivotal circumstance looking for God in the midst of it, and to consider that God wants to build my confidence in Him and my passion for Him through the circumstance. I may have arrived at the circumstance by my own poor decision, or it may be a good circumstance God has allowed to bless me, but either way, I need to look for God in it.

So often we spend so much time trying to control our circumstances. We say we know we are not in control and yet we do everything within our power in hopes that we can sway the circumstances of life in a way we would find desirable. I am not saying that is wrong, I am all for being intentional with every bit of life, but it does make me consider what kind of position that puts us in when we find ourselves in unexpected circumstances. All of a sudden our illusion of control is shattered as we find ourselves facing an unexpected reality. The circumstance can be good or bad, but the fact that it was not on our radar makes it disconcerting and at this point we must look to see what God is up to in our midst.

Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances we aren’t happy about. It is hard to cheerfully receive that which God has provided us with when what He has provided us with does not match up with what we were planning on. We can get lost in trying to figure out how the circumstance came to be, or we can look for God in the midst of it, and trust Him to correct it if that is what needs to happen. However, correcting the circumstance may not be God’s desire. I’ve heard Ken Boa say many times that God cares more about our holiness than He cares about our happiness. He may have allowed the circumstance to build our confidence in Him, and our pursuit of Him. The situation may work itself out in a way that is favorable to our own cause and so we walk away blessing God for His graciousness to us, or the situation may not come to a successful resolution, but in the process we experience God walking closely with us and so walk away strengthened to the core. God is at work in both cases.

The article suggested we read the passage in Luke 8 where Jesus quells the stormy seas by his spoken word. The disciples present for that pivotal circumstance walked away with a rock solid picture of who Jesus was, and an assurance that they could trust God to be God. In seeing their concern over the storm, Jesus asks them where their faith is. The article challenged the reader to walk into the next pivotal circumstance with a 3x5 card that says “Where is my faith?” I may be caught by surprise by some of the twists and turns of life, but God is bigger than any circumstance and can be trusted to walk with me through all of them.