It’s easy to let difficult circumstances rule our emotions. Bad news comes, and our day is wrecked. While challenging circumstances will always have an impact on us, we can’t let them reign over our hearts. Circumstances shouldn’t be king, but what do we do?
Consider how the prophet Habakkuk viewed difficult circumstances.
Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places (Habakkuk 3:17-19, emphasis added).
Habakkuk understood that circumstances, no matter how bad they might be, were no match for his almighty God.
What an example the Old Testament believer is for you and me as the difficult circumstances of life try to rule our hearts. Habakkuk didn’t discount the problems in life, but he looked at them in view of who God is.
You and I must do what it takes to have such a sight of God that we respond to difficult circumstances the same way Habakkuk did. But that takes some grace-fueled effort.
You’ve likely felt the comfort that comes from recalling verses that describe God as your protector and provider. You’ve opened the Scriptures and found inspiration from the glorious wonder of your God. And I’m pretty sure you’ve felt the soul-settling peace that accompanies a quiet rest in the psalms. Undoubtedly, your heart has been both saddened and enriched as you’ve read about your Savior hanging on a tree for you. He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).
Regularly experiencing moments like these tend to capture our hearts, and it impacts the way we view challenging circumstances: “the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” (“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”)
When our hearts are full because we’ve spent unhurried time with the Lord, we begin to see things in a different light. The Son shines on the situations of life, and we’re able to see them as God sees them.
Christian, we do ourselves a tremendous favor, we encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we honor God when we determine to grow closer to Him.
But there is a price to pay. For us to grow closer to our God, it will take an investment of our time. Tozer was right when he said, “The man who would truly know God must give time to Him.”
Are we willing to make a sacrifice of that magnitude?
In his book titled Knowing God, J.I. Packer makes the statement that “what makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance, and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?”
As we bask in the realities of who God is, He increasingly becomes the predominant “circumstance” of our life. We learn to treasure Him more, to trust Him more, and we see life’s circumstances with Habakkuk-like eyes.
