Rise above your circumstances

Live above your circumstances. That is the way to conquer the worldliness. You see, worldly people are just so mesmerized by their present circumstances. You get to work and you ask them, How are you doing today? They answer, I am doing lousy. Then you ask them, Oh, you are doing lousy, what happened to you? Shockingly, they reply, Well, it is snowing now . . . What?! You look at the weather on a particular day determining how your relationship is with God. It is crazy. If you love the Lord, and you know that everything works together for your good, then everything works together for your good. You have no business getting worried; you have no business being depressed. I mean, you still do get those ways, but really, where you ought to be able to say, I am going to rise above these circumstances that are negative, because I got God as my portion. What more could I ask for? I have got the best of both worlds: communion with him here, and eternal communion here after.

I loved my mother. She was sweet. She was one of the sweetest people I ever know. But when I was a boy, she frustrated me sometimes, because she would always live above her circumstances. So that meant I could never get any pity from her, ever. I would express some frustration, whatever it was and she would say, Well, it could be worse. Yeah, it could be worse. Once I got really frustrated, and I said, You always say that it could be worse. Then she said, That is right, it can always be worse. And finally, I just said to her, You know, this is not right, because I am really having a hard time with this. She said, Well, I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. It hit me between the eyes. I will never forget her saying that to me. I was unconverted then. I was twelve years old. But it hit me, a true Christian can find happiness in anything, because it is from my Father’s hand. It is meant for my good. So, why can’t I live above the circumstances?

Now, I know of course, even as Christians, we still struggle with this. But have you ever met Christians who really have a lot of special needs, and they are handicapped in some major ways, have you ever talked to them? Have you ever heard any of them complaining about anything? It always amazes me how God teaches people who he has broken deeply, when they are Christians, to live above circumstances and their lives are open epistles of God’s grace.

…See, the world can’t live that way. Every little thing that happens to a worldly person, it leaves them all discombobulated, because their joy is depending on the circumstances around them. But a believer’s joy is dependent upon his relationship with Christ within him. So, that is the way to rise above the world: it is to live above your circumstances.¹

Joel Beeke