About Circumstances

I heard from a friend once that “its about the attitude you have in the circumstances you are in and what you do with the information you’ve learned in those circumstances that will help you grow.”

Circumstances can be either man-made or natural, however they’re generally unavoidable; they may occur to us at the blink of an eye, and they may be challenging. How we cope with circumstances has a lot to with our attitude. For example, when we wake up on a cloudy morning, our attitude may be to grumble and moan; or to hold steadfast to a positive attitude knowing that the sun is still shining above the clouds- and what brings us the light of day. That’s a natural circumstance, we don’t have any control over it, but we do have control over our attitude toward it based on our past experiences we’ve learned from. We’ve learned perhaps, with fog; that the sun burns through the fog and blue skies may prevail, so the next time its foggy we come to expect similar results and we don’t grumble as much. Even if it turns out to be a cloudy day, we know that the sun is still shining; based on the information we’ve learned, sun equals light even if its cloudy. This is just one example of many natural circumstances t hat exist.

Man-made circumstances are those that either we or others create. This may sound natural, however, if I plant a flower and neglect to water it; its going to wither and die. My attitude may be groggy because of a circumstance I created. If I take the information I learned from in that circumstance and plant some more flowers, my attitude will be much different on a hot summers day in a drought, when I water the plants; Ill be much happier and feel much more successful.

When we overcome circumstances in our lives we feel successful at what we’ve done.  Some circumstances are more difficult to overcome than others. It doesn’t mean that we’re a failure, it just means that we need to take baby steps, perhaps. One step at a time, just as in grade school; you  take the information you learn from one grade and proceed to the next grade. We need help; and that’s  ok, just as we need help to make it through each grade, we can reach out to others who may have been in similar circumstances. It took me several grades of science to realize that the sun is still shining above the clouds, but I caught on; and the teachers didnt give up. They had to learn the same thing too, in their education and personal experiences. So we’re not alone, and we dont have to face many circumstances alone.

Spiritually, we’re not alone neither. Phillipians 4:11-13 tells us that we have learned to be content whatever the circumstances...for we can do everything through him who gives us strength. Our strength comes from God, he’s the pilot, the co-pilot, and navigator. Once again, we’re not alone in any circumstance, nor do we have to be. He’s given us the power and freedom to break any chains that has bound us together through the blood shed by his only Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savor. AMEN