Things Are Not always What They Seem

What do you do when things are exactly the way they are supposed to be but nowhere near where you want them to be? It's so easy sometimes for me to forget that there are no accidents or surprises in life, at least not in God's perspective. With God, things are always just exactly as they are supposed to be even when it isn't what I may want them to be. Because God is sovereign and because He is ultimately in control of all then it stands to reason that whatever circumstances I find myself in have been orchestrated for a particular purpose and reason. But what about free will? Great question! Free will is how we choose to respond to such circumstances. Free will says that I can choose to be miserable in any given set of circumstances or I can choose to be joyful and accepting understanding that God has a plan. That's my choice. I can choose to learn from my circumstances. I can choose to do something about it. I can choose to respond positively or negatively; there are a myriad of ways I can choose to live in any given set of circumstances but the circumstances themselves are outside of my control.

Certainly, I can make them worse or better and that is part of my free will. For example, when faced with a job loss (a circumstance which is out of my control)I can choose to sulk and blame everyone (negative) or I can be proactive and seek out new work (positive).

There are a number of stories about people who have chosen to rise above their circumstances and it would do us well to spend time reading and studying the things they did to master their circumstances rather than to be slaves to them.