Promise, not Circumstance

“So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep His promise. Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.”— Hebrews 10:22-24

Life is full of circumstances that might cause us to question where God is in our lives. One of the most common questions I hear is “why does God let bad things happen?”  God is way too complex and smart for me to second-guess Him, so my answer has to be—“I don’t know, but I trust God.”  I think of life being much like a military course. The purpose of training is not to make me uncomfortable, but I will most likely be uncomfortable. The purpose is not to cause me pain, but I will most likely feel pain. The purpose is not to expose my weaknesses, but I will most likely have those weaknesses exposed. The purpose of training is to shape my character and abilities so that I can better serve. That’s how I see life and how God runs it. His purpose is not to make trouble for me, but He wants me to grow in character and my ability to serve Him.  So life is not always going to be comfortable.

I think that sometimes we focus on physical troubles, such as finances (a real concern as we are facing a recession) or sickness or accidents. But if we look a little deeper, it is not actually the circumstance that gets us down. It is the emotions that are triggered and fed by those circumstances that give us a sense of hopelessness. For example, when we miss a car payment and it looks like we will lose the car, the circumstance causes us to feel failure, frustration, anger, or other emotions. Deployment seems to be one of those unique military circumstances that can really drag all those emotions out into the open.

My first deployment was to Bosnia. I thought I would go and do my duty, my wife and family would be proud of me and that would pretty much be it. As we approached the deployment time I remember being surprised by how much pressure there was on our marriage. We attended a psychologist’s briefing and he explained the cycle of emotions prior to deployment which mostly affected the remaining spouse as the departing spouse had something else to focus on. It went something like this: denial, depression, anger/separation behavior, and departure/adjustment.

I remember my wife saying that she was really expecting God just to cancel the deployment (denial), so it came as a surprise when she realized that it was going to happen (depression).  Separation behavior kicked in before I had even left as she resigned herself to my leaving and started to make the departure “easier” by separating herself emotionally. That was probably the hardest part as we became irritable with one another. Actually, the psychologist’s brief made us realize that we were normal and we were reacting to circumstances—so we had a good final week working through our emotions.

I guess what was happening was that we started to focus on circumstances and let them drive our emotions rather than focusing on God’s promises. What we should have asked ourselves when the first emotions hit was “do we trust God?”  Here are some of God’s promises (there are plenty more where these came from…) that we should have focused on:

1.  John 16:33 – [Jesus speaking] “I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”

2.  Proverbs 17:22 – Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.

3.  James 1:12 – Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love Him.

4.  Romans 8:28 – We know that in all things God works for good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.

5.  Romans 8:38-39 – For I am certain that nothing can separate us from His [God’s] love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.

So this is what I have learned and what the writer of Hebrews also had experienced: When the pressure comes on and emotions are high, I know that I need to come near to God (not run away, ignore Him or blame Him), trusting Him to have my best interests at heart. Also I know to make sure that I keep a short account with Him—by confessing my wrong-doing regularly to God keeps my end of the communication link working well.  Finally, I know to focus on God’s promises rather than the circumstances I am in. By taking these sure steps my emotions will be under control and I will “be concerned for one another (primarily my wife and family), to help one another to show love and to do good.”

If you’re in the midst of hopelessness, this may seem a little theoretical to you. I recommend you take a practical first step by looking at God’s promises in the Bible, knowing that He will never let you down no matter what circumstances you are in and what emotions you are currently feeling. Know that He does not promise that you won’t suffer at times. He just promises that there is purpose in suffering, that He will stay by your side during your discomfort and that the rewards of hanging in there are enormous.

I know that when I am training in the military it mostly includes suffering, but the relief at the end of the training and the satisfaction of completion is huge. The relief and reward at the end of the trials in this life will be unimaginably better than what I’ve ever felt after completing a course. Focusing on God’s promises instead of my circumstances along the way will make that journey easier to bear.

Questions to Share:

1.  What trials are you undergoing or have undergone where you felt overwhelmed?

2.  What promises of God apply to those circumstances?

3.  Search your Bible and note the passages where God tells you that He understands what you are going through. Note, too, the passages where He promises something good will come of those trials.  Look at those promises whenever you feel your circumstances are starting to drive your emotions.