Surrender To God Instead Of Surrendering To Circumstances

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;” Lamentations 3:22

A lady called Nduta told us how she struggled emotionally and financially after a bitter divorce that left her to raise her three children single-handed. Then when she thought she would rest and have it easier after her children finished school, she got a stroke which left her paralyzed on one side. This resulted in her being retired early. She exhausted her resources but saw the goodness of the Lord manifested through family, friends and neighbors who gave her a lot of support. However, even after years of therapy, she did not regain the use of one hand and one of her legs is quite weak.  Luckily for her she had accepted Christ a few years before her stroke and still praises the Lord despite her handicap. It did not consume her because she had already surrendered her life to God.  Nduta compared herself with another very discouraged lady she had met during her physiotherapy sessions. She thought she would encourage her by talking to her about the joy of the Lord, eternal life and hell. The lady had retorted, “What other hell are you talking about, look at us, aren’t we living in hell right now?” This lady had lost her will to live and let her circumstance consume her with anger and bitterness.

It is not easy to go through a similar condition, and it is impossible to go through it alone. Trust in the Lord and surrender your circumstance to Him instead of surrendering to the circumstances. He will take you through it.

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There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart.
Alan Redpath

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