The truth about our circumstances

This morning as I was making pancakes and praying for my family in SC, the Lord reminded me of something. I seem to always base my trust in the Lord on the circumstances surrounding me. Are my finances in order? Are my relationships where they should be? Are the people I care about hurting? I don't think I even realize how much my faith wavers when things aren't as they should be. As I began to think about Jesus' circumstances, I realized that most often things weren't going "well" for Him. He obviously wasn't a rich man, and didn't have earthly wealth so He wasn't relying on His finances for His security. We know that His relationships were difficult when so many people didn't believe the things He said. And all throughout scripture Jesus was surrounded by the broken and the hurting, but what's amazing is that He knew those things were an opportunity to show God's power!

How much would my life change if I looked at the difficulties in my life as opporutunities for Jesus to show up?  Jesus didn't see the circumstances around Him as a reason to feel defeated or to doubt His heavenly Father. In fact, he saw them as just the opposite. In John chapter 11 Jesus' friend Lazerus had died. When he went to visit the tomb and roll away the stone, Lazerus' sister protested and said that he had been dead for four days. You can almost hear the doubt in her voice, the wavering of her faith. And Jesus responded "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" As Jesus rolled away the stone, He called Lazerus out from the tomb, and Lazerus walked out alive.

I challenge you as I challenge myself, to not see these painful circumstances in our life as reason to doubt our loving Father. He sees the need, and waits for us to look to Him in expectation. May I learn to wait on my Father and keep my eyes fixed on Him as He waits for me to trust Him.