God is Bigger than Your Circumstances

On my way back home after dropping my 2 children off at school (my husband does the earlier H.S. run, hallelujah!), I was thinking about my kids and how they see Jesus. Okay, Janice – it's all your fault because you keep bringing these stories about your kids so I thought I'd bring you a story about my kids! Haha! There's no competition here, I promise. Haha! Actually, there truly isn't. J Having said that, I hope you are having as much of a blast as we are in this joyblog! J

Okay, concentrate Tracee and get back to the story. Lol! So, this was back a few years in 2003. Let me remind you before I go any further, I haven't aged ONE BIT since then! Alright, now that that's resolved I can continue with this story. Okay, so we had just returned from Ireland having done some missions work there and we were now Youth Pastors in Oklahoma City. Financially, things were rough. Coming from overseas, we had brought back with us some lovely debt that was overwhelming me, not only that, it just seemed that life circumstance (you'd be here all day if I wrote every single detail! Lol!), at that time, had brought on some unwanted stress in my life that I was trying to find a balance on as I CONTINUALLY sought God's presence!!! Sidenote: That's the key to removing unwanted stress in your life – DIVE into the Word of God and stay there! Of course, eating chocolate and shop therapy helps as well. J

So, back to the story: One day, my daughter Faith and I were driving to church on a Wednesday night and we were having our fun usual conversations about the day when we started talking about God. Due to my circumstances, my vision was blurred spiritually so I wasn't seeing God with what I call, faith eyes. I don't recall exactly everything I said (that is NOT due to my age!) as I usually have always been the one that has stood firmly on God's word – knowing that there's nothing too BIG for Him. This day, sadly, wasn't one of them as it was obvious that I was talking about the pressures of finances and feeling like we'd remain in our trap for what felt like forever. Not seeing a way out. This was a rarity because I never talked to my children about financial pressures. My daughter, though, wise in her young years finally got me to hush (a miracle in itself!) and looked at me while we were stopped at a stop light and said these amazing words, "You know mom, God is bigger than you think and He is richer than you think. Look around, see all this? It all belongs to God. He owns the whole world. He is rich!!" Right then and there the light bulb clicked as did the green light, I snapped out of my misery that I was putting on myself, got my eyes back onto God and clung to the statement of my 6 year old daughter. She was right. Why on earth did I have to worry when my God held the world in His hands. From that day forward, I changed my thoughts, started seeing past my circumstances and resolved to move forward knowing that my God is the supplier of ALL my needs in my life. Time and time again He's never ceased to amaze me with His incredible faithfulness and provision. That's another novel at another time. Lol! No, my life circumstances weren't resolved in those 4 minutes but when I choose to change how I looked at my circumstances and NOT let them define my life, it put be back on track with the right focus and that is Jesus is in control of my life.

So, I leave you with this verse from The Message, "You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity." Philippians 4:19

Don't let the circumstances of your life define your future – but know that your Father in heaven is BIGGER THAN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!!

Chatty Tracee J