Circumstances

“Count your blessings.” Isn’t that what we are told when we are down? A close cousin to that statement is, “Consider those less fortunate than you.” Both of these are intended as encouragements, reminders that, if things could be worse, then the current circumstances aren’t as bad as we think.

In Christian circles we hear something similar: “Remember all the good things that God has done for you.” This is sometimes meant to imply that He will do them again; just hang in there.

The problem with these fine-sounding words of comfort is that they tacitly agree that our happiness is found in our circumstances. They all essentially say, “Don’t worry, things will get better – and then you will be happy.”

God wants us to be happy and He would love it if our circumstances were always reasons to smile. And there is no question that that is His goal. But the path to that goal winds through a life of being perfected, refined by fire, and one in which every person with whom we come in contact has free will (as much as we might wish they didn’t).

God is the only source of our happiness and peace. And not because of what He has done or what He will do. And not even because God is good. In fact, that oft-repeated characterization of God is part of our problem. To say that God is “good” implies that He is better than something else. Perhaps we mean that He is better than everything, that He is the best. All these statements about God, while true, are not complete. You see, God is Goodness. He defines it. Apart from God, there is no good. Nada. Zilch.

So, while God cares very much about our circumstances and wishes to redeem them, our happiness cannot depend on remembering what God has done and being hopeful for what He will do. What God has done and will to tomorrow is no different than what He is doing right now, in the midst of our troubles.

He is Good and circumstances can’t change that one iota.