Untitled Sermon

God Speaks Through Our Circumstances

Circumstances can take many forms. They might be a job offer, a marriage proposal, a promotion, a natural disaster, a sudden death, a car accident, an unexpected gift, a surprise phone call, a letter of encouragement, an illness, a miraculous recovery, an unusual conversation, a failure, or a success. The key is not the occurrence itself but the presence of the Holy Spirit as he communicates through life events.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 140). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Circumstances are events that God uses to speak about himself and his will. We face circumstances in life every day. Unless we see God's activity in the midst of them, we will be unaware of their spiritual significance. They will simply be events in a long succession of confusing occurrences.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 140). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Circumstances occur with unbelievers and believers alike. The difference is that God uses the circumstances in the believers life to communicate about Himself and His will. The believer must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in order to discern the purpose of the circumstance.

The key to understanding the circumstances of your life is hearing from God, not scrutinizing the circumstances.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 144). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

The purpose of a circumstance is to get our eyes on God! I have heard many testimonies of God delivering people from tragedy to get them to focus on God. I have heard of testimonies of people losing their jobs only to get the one God wants them to have. The issue is not the circumstance but God’s purpose for the circumstance.

Open & Closed Doors

The problem with open doors is the emphasis is erroneously placed on the door rather than on God. Some people enter open doors under the mistaken assumption that God only allows good opportunities to come their way. Therefore, any good opportunity that comes along must be from God. Looking for open doors can appear easier than developing a relationship with God. Various opportunities, including questionable business opportunities and marriage proposals, can be treated as open doors. As you might imagine, this can often lead to disastrous results!

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 144). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Open and closed doors method of interpreting often leaves God out. Our perception is the key element in open and closed doors. For example, if we get what we want we perceive it to be a door that God opened. When in actuality it is not what God desires but what we desire. Conversely, when we don’t get what we want we can perceive that as God closing the door and we stop trying. God may want to give us what we want, but depend on Him for the deliverance. This will call for persistent prayer.

The key is not to make decisions that seem the most reasonable to you but to determine which ones align with God's will.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 150). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

In order to discern God’s will in our circumstance, we must be in relationship with God. This takes time and effort. God will grant us the answers to our circumstances when we pursue Him in our circumstances.

What’s Your Focus

The key to understanding our circumstances is to focus on Christ rather than on our circumstances. At times we can become so obsessed with what we are experiencing that we fail to allow Christ to give us his perspective on our situation. For example, if we have a family member who becomes gravely ill, we may be tempted to dwell on the fact God has allowed a special person in our lives to suffer. We can grow angry with God for sanctioning what appears to be meaningless pain for someone we love. The more we focus on the suffering, the more indignant we can become at God. When we do this we are allowing our circumstances to inform us about God. That is backwards. We ought always to allow God to inform us about our circumstances. When we encounter trying and confusing times, our first response should be to turn our focus from the circumstance to God. This can be difficult to do, but as we meditate on God's sovereignty, his unfailing love as demonstrated on the cross, and his infinite wisdom, we will be prepared to hear what he has to say about our present condition.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 153). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Our circumstances do not define God. God defines our circumstances. We must understand that God always deals with us with love. Even when things seem unbearable, God allows things into our lives because he loves us and has something greater for us.

How can we be sure that God loves us when things are real bad in our lives? Because the cross defines His love for us, not our circumstances. When we understand the depth of love that Christ demonstrated for us on the cross, we will see difficult circumstances in a different light.

Guidelines for Understanding Your Circumstances

1. Settle in your mind that God forever demonstrated his love for you on the cross. That love will never change. Regularly revisit this truth.

2. Do not try to understand God based on your circumstances. Go to God and ask him to help you see your situation from his perspective.

3. Wait on the Holy Spirit. He will take the word of God and help you understand your circumstances. Learn patience! Patience means trusting God (James 1:2–4). God's timing is always best.

4. Adjust your life to God and to what you see him doing in your circumstances. Let God work in you thoroughly, so he can work through you effectively and completely.

5. If there is no clear instruction, wait and do the last thing you know God told you to do. Waiting is not inactivity but continuing until God speaks.

Blackaby, Henry; Blackaby, Richard. Hearing God's Voice (p. 157). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Review James 1:2-8

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various [a]trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [b]endurance. 4 And let [c]endurance have its perfect [d]result, so that you may be [e]perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [f]without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a [g]double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.