Three months ago, my life took a major turn driven by circumstances. As I mentioned in my last post, sometimes life demands you to either pivot your perspective or crumble. I will propose that when your theology and your psychology don't match, that is when most people crumble. Why do I say this? Because when life gets really hard, you have to decide if you really believe what you say you do. But more importantly, you have to decide if you believe that God is really who He says and that He can do what only He can do. Each time we answer those questions with a resounding "Yes", our faith grows and makes trusting Him the next time so much easier.
To successfully pivot, punctuation matters. You cannot put a period in the story where it does not belong. You have to let God be God in order to see what only He can do in your circumstances. Subsequently my favorite punctuation symbol in this season of life, is the semicolon.
A semicolon is a punctuation mark that joins two related but independent clauses that are similar and complete statements on their own. They could each stand on their own, but the connection between them is the clincher. The first statement may be how bleak your circumstance appears or how hopeless it makes you feel. I will be so bold to suggest the enemy often writes these statements, especially if they contain absolutes. (i.e. you'll never get back up. you'll always be a failure. if God loved you, he would never have allowed this to happen) Don't grab the pen and cognitively place a period here. Instead, allow the truths of scripture and what they tell us about the character of God to mark a semicolon. Then the subsequent statement that follows we must submit and trust that only God can write. The bible has numerous examples of this to reference. Here are a few. And they all share one key pivoting phrase, (see what I did there) ..... BUT, GOD....
But GOD.... this phrase that exists in the bible when God interceded in humanly overwhelming circumstances for his people in ways that only He could do so that 1. they would undoubtedly know it was Him working on their behalf and 2. so He alone would receive the glory. Those two little words are actually instrumental to a believer's ability to endure when circumstances feel hopeless.
- Genesis 50:20 when Joseph was talking to his brothers many years after they had sold him into slavery. "You intended to harm me; (but) God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
- Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart may fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
- 2nd Corinth 7:5-7"For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us."
- Romans 5:8 "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
If you have any doubts about how God could possibly work your hopeless situation, remind yourself of this verse from Ephesians 2:
"As for you, you we were dead in your transgressions and sins. (OH, if we stopped the story here we would all be crushed)... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
You were dead; now you are made alive in Christ and heir to immeasurable grace and kindness. Still think God can't work in your current circumstances when all looks bleak? Think again; God loves the impossible. He did it through Jesus Christ. It literally is who He is. There is nothing that demonstrates his love better for you more, than when you can do absolutely nothing for yourself feeling at your lowest point, and yet, He steps in to rescue you. He makes a way when there is no way. It is his nature and he loves to do it. If He can solve your biggest problem through Jesus Christ, He can change your current circumstances in a moment.
This kind of love anchors us in stormy seas; it helps us endure whatever the enemy keeps throwing at us. God has done this for me continually throughout these three months and continues to do so. It has been simultaneously remarkable and crazy; when the time is right, I will share all the ways "BUT GOD" interceded. The irony is that to experience it we have our own connected statement to make and it comes from Isaiah 40. "BUT, those who hope in the LORD....they will renew their strength."
I never understood this scripture before like I do now. When you feel like you hit rock bottom, or circumstances could crush you, BUT GOD intervenes on your behalf, your strength to endure is instantly renewed. Instead of feeling crushed, I literally felt like I was flying above everything that was happening to me. When everything was falling apart, He literally flipped the script. It absolutely made no earthly sense and that is how I know it was God.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Being a runner, I have always loved this verse in the physical sense. Now, after recent circumstances, it has taken on an extremely richer meaning for me. To spiritually run and not grow weary, when most others would stumble, and fall is a big deal. Look at the last verse. It is literally connected by a semicolon. It has been the entire basis for this blog since its inception: my faith keeps me running, and I keep running because of my faith.
But God made a way right in the middle of her circumstances; for that, I will praise Him the rest of my days.
