Bad Circumstances=Bad God? (How circumstances shape our view of God)

First, I’d like to cheer and share about a great podcast I listened to the other day that’s fairly new, but sure to be around for awhile—Made for This with Jennie Allen. It’s only about 30 minutes long, but it packs lots of fun and wisdom into those brief minutes.

This particular episode was an interview with her 17-year-old daughter, Kate. I was so encouraged, as a mom of two teenagers, to hear such a wise and grounded young woman sharing what God has been teaching her. You should definitely give it a listen (after you finish reading this, of course)!

If you listen to the podcast (and you should), you’ll hear Kate tell about a lonely season she walked through in which she had no friends and she learned to rely more fully on God. Her words struck me when she was laughing and giddily sharing about some wonderful friends she has now, and how she’s experienced God’s kindness through those relationships, but that her season of loneliness was also “God’s kindness.” Whoa! The maturity and depth in those words. Seriously.

How many of us can say the same when the circumstances of our lives are less than ideal, or frankly, the worst they’ve ever been? I know it’s been a struggle for me at times.

But how do we move into a place where our relationship with God, and our opinion of his character, transcends our circumstances and we see his goodness and his kindness to us even in our deepest disappointments and failures?

Even though it’s hard, I think there’s a couple of ways we can start moving in that direction. Because we all long to experience God’s goodness and kindness, especially when life is scary and difficult, right?

I think the biggest key is where we place our focus. Do we focus on our circumstances—all the things that aren’t going to plan or are falling apart around us? Or do we focus on God—all the promises he’s made to us and all of the ways he’s proven faithful?

One of the harshest rebukes that Jesus ever uttered to one of his closest followers is found in Matthew 16:21-23 (CSB) as Jesus was preparing his disciples for the difficult path ahead of him (and them).

“From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, ‘Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!’

Jesus turned and told Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.’”

Talk about terrible circumstances looming on the horizon—Jesus was moving daily towards his impending death. Still, Jesus’ rebuke seems harsh, doesn’t it? I mean, Satan, really? If I had been there I might have said the same thing Peter did.

But Jesus reminds us that Peter’s focus was on his own desires and potential feelings of loss, not God’s good plan to rescue all of humanity from sin and death—and Jesus wasn’t having any of it. He understood God’s plans for redemption and restoration, and his crucial role in fulfilling them. He came to do the will of God on earth and nothing was going to distract him from that mission. Not the ugly circumstances ahead of him, not even the well-meaning words of a friend.

He captured the mind of God for the circumstances surrounding Him, instead of being captured by His emotions and the emotions of those around him. Pause for just a moment right here. What is God saying to you today, friend? About your circumstances? Shut out the anxious voices of friends and family (maybe even your own) and focus on his voice, his perspective, today.

Jesus goes on in verse 24 to explain the sometimes puzzling, and always paradoxical, way in which we find a life that’s full even in the face of life’s most difficult moments.

“…If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”

How much of our worry about unfortunate circumstances, bad diagnoses, and all around rough situations is us grasping, trying to save our own lives? In the counter-cultural way that Jesus calls us to live, he asks us to let go of all of it and trust his character and heart towards us in the midst of all of it.

Can we trust that even when it seems like everything in our life is spiraling down the toilet that we will yet see his goodness towards us? Whether in this life or in eternity?

If you’re going though a devastating season, lest you think I’m just out of touch, I’m not. I am so sympathetic…and I’ve been there. I remember that season well.

And I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but the darkest season of my life, when I was feeling hopeless and suicidal, was actually when I experienced God’s presence and power most profoundly. And I bet that’s what Kate experienced too during her season of loneliness. There’s something about the presence of God, the way he gives himself to us in pain and suffering, that's impossible to get over. Often, he becomes all we have, and yet he is so much MORE than we ever had before.

The words of Psalm 16:11b CSB come to life…

“In your presence is abundant (ample, abounding) joy;
At your right hand are eternal pleasures.”

God wants to offer you that abundant joy today. Joy that’s not affected by your job, your relationship status, your health.

Spend some time in his presence, friend. Soak up his love for you. Believe that even though it might not look like it now, God’s kindness and goodness haven’t abandoned you. Listen for his voice. Ask him for the ability to see things from his perspective today.

Much love,
Erica