Kingdom Attitude in the Storm (Part 3 of 5)

Date of original writing: Monday June 27, 2005

Buju Banton said “Circumstances make me who I am.” I wish to build upon that statement and say that the way we deal with circumstances make us who we are. See, if we were in a relationship with someone, and for whatever reasons it came to and end, we could choose to allow the ‘down time’ or depression or anger or pain suppress us down to absolutely nothing. It will engulf our souls so much, that we won’t even remember the origin of our pain. We will forget how it feels to feel good. We may end up on medication for depression or anxiety among other things, thus leading us into a downward spiral through life, ultimately to death. Not saying that depression will cause your death, but depression can present to us the question “Why am I living.”

The situation or action taken: Was that you and your partner broke up.
The circumstances were: The reasons you broke up, whether infidelity, lack of trust etc.
The result: Based on the circumstances, you allowed your life to have the outcome of a downward spiral of depression to death. This is letting your circumstances control you.
On the other hand, based on the same situation and circumstances, you can decide to say “I will give this burden to God, because that’s what he said to do. He said “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you for it is easy and my burden is light.”

In essence, what God is saying is to bring all of our troubles to Him. All that we think is burdensome. And He will take care of it. He will give us peace in the midst of the storm. He will give us joy that is unspeakable. He will cause us to look at our circumstances and see them as merely a training simulation to strengthen us and our faith in God. See its all for our benefit, you know. The more trials we have, the more we will trust and have faith in God. The stronger our faith, the more we will receive and accomplish in our life time.

We shouldn’t stay fearful and afraid of our circumstances, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind! Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that hope in the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall soar with the wings of eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” This statement goes against everything the world believes. They would say, “Who can run and not be weary? Who can go through a devastating break up and not delve into depression? Who can once have a heart filled with hate, and now have a heart filled with love?” The world says it’s impossible, but Isaiah 40:31 says just the opposite. For when we trust and hope in God, he will renew our strength in Him. He will renew our mindset so that we CAN soar above the world on wings like eagles, so that we CAN run and not be weary, so that we CAN go through a devastating break up and not delve into depression, so that we CAN replace a heart filled with hate, to a heart filled with love, so that we CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US!

This is the word of God, and He says that it will not return to us void. Instead it will fill us and manifest its meaning in our lives. See, when the world becomes afraid, people look to each other for help because that is where and how they built what they have. As a believer, at the first sign of fear, we go to God, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. After all, He created everything, why not go directly to the “Source”? It only makes perfect sense.