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Circumstances There are times when the Lord speaks, and then there are times when the Lord SPEAKS. One thing I’m learning recently is the infinite ways in which the Lord chooses to speak. His speaking started with a line from a song by the group Mercy Me; interestingly, the song is called “Bring in the Rain.” The line that struck me was, “Can circumstances possibly / Change who I forever am in You?” Before even hearing the song, the Lord had spoken to me the word “Rain” one night at work. I thought perhaps he meant “Reign” since He’s been teaching us about warfare, but so much for my thinking. He spoke that He meant what He meant, and not what Webster, Encarta, or Strong’s had to say on the matter. I chewed on the word “circumstance” for several days as well, but I didn’t seem to be receiving any clarity on the idea until I was impressed to look at it as two words; “circum” and “stance.” At this point, I felt released to consult Webster’s dictionary for some definitions. “Circum” means “circle, to make a circle, around.” I was reminded of the early explorers who “circumnavigated” the world. “Stance” means “position, [posture, stay, to stand, a way of standing or being placed, intellectual or emotional attitude.]” Two days later I received an email called “Circumstances.” It was a quote by Hugh Downs; “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.” So what’s our attitude? Do we think that we are stuck where we are because “my father didn’t tell me he loved me when I was eight,” or because “Mom didn’t put a band-aid on my knee that time when…?” You fill in your own blanks. How many times have we been told that we’re going around the same old mountain, a mountain of circumstance that is blocking the way to truth, freedom, and the life our Lord offers? Rain wears a mountain down, breaking it into smaller pieces that can be carried away. And how interesting that the run-off from mountains, called “till” fertilizes and enriches the soil below. While it looks like flour in water, it’s good stuff. Isn’t it time to tear down those mountains and enrich our soil for the harvest to come? What does the Bible say about “Circumstance”? Nothing? Look in Strong’s and it’s not even mentioned. I believe it’s because the Lord isn’t moved by circumstance because it’s not in His plan for our lives. I see Circumstance as a demon standing in the middle of our path, keeping us from what the Lord has chosen for us. As we respond to Circumstances, we find ourselves going around the mountain again and again. What is in Strong’s is “circumcised” which means, “to cut short, curtail, to destroy, to cut down in pieces.” Are we ready to stop going around the same mountain and cut short what’s been stopping us? -David Oakley August Newsletter 2006 | Conviction Crisis | Wholeness part 1 of 3 Pastor's Journal August 2005 | Increase Not Supplement | Circumstances
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Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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