Living Beyond the Circumstance

" Cheerfulness brings sunshine to the soul and drives away the shadows of anxiety. To be cheerful under all circumstances is to radiate faith. It is an expression of hope and an attitude of joyful expectancy...it is to know that God holds all things in His control and that He neither slumbers nor sleeps."- Hannah Whitall Smith As disciples of Christ, we are called to live according to our faith in the soveriegnty of God. We are to continue our praises to the King through the blessings in life as well as the storms, resting in the absolute belief that God can do all things and that He has absolute control over every detail of our circumstances. This emotional consistency is often elusive for most Christians. We find it hard to get off of the emotional roller coaster of our lives. We become distracted by the schemes of Satan and lose our focus on Christ and His kingdom. If we are in complete surrender to Christ, it becomes second nature to live beyond the circumstances of each day. This is evident in the mother who is told that her child has died and reacts by praising God in the midst of her grief. We see it in Jesus' apostles of the New Testament when they "count it all joy" to be berated, beaten and killed for the sake of Christ's kingdom. It is evident in the actions of Mr. George Mueller who set the dinner table in his orphanage without a scrap of food in the pantry, and patiently waited for God to provide. ( He did, by the way, a cart of groceries broke down in front of the orphanage and the food was brought inside before it could spoil.) There are examples all around us to inspire us to live beyond our circumstances, no matter if you live in the lap of America's prosperity or the poverty stricken slums and gutters hiding just out of plain sight. My challenge is for each person who reads this to strive for utter surrender to Christ and in so doing, live beyond the circumstances of life on this Earth. Live each day with an eternal perspective. * The life of Mr Mueller has been recorded and can be viewed free of charge thanks to What Saith the Scripture. It can be viewed here: http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/George.Mueller.of.Bristol/George.Mueller.of.Bristol.html