Victory Over Circumstances

What does it mean to have Christ as our all in all? A portion from John 6 will help us find the answer.

"When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the and whither they went" (vv. 15-21).

It was dark, the sea arose, a great wind blew. Jesus had not yet come to His disciples. They they saw Him walking on the sea toward the ship, and they were afraid. But He said, "It is I; b not afraid" (v. 20). They willingly received Him into the ship, and they immediately found themselves at the shore.

Perhaps we fail no place more often, more miserably and more manifestly than in our circumstances. It may be that some feel it is possible for us to have victory over sin and over self, because those are personal matters and involve our own personal relationship to the Lord. But when it comes to circumstances where other people and events are involved, we may feel that victory is not possible. But everything in the Word of God shows that it is not only possible, but it is also expected. Perfect victory has been provided over even the most difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Shortly after the Lord laid the subject of "Victory Over Circumstances" on my heart, I read in a newspaper this sentence: "To solve any problem, find and face the facts." This is what I did in regard to this message.

To find the facts, I went through the Word of God and tried to find words in Scripture that would show what the facts are that we face in our circumstances. So often when we are in very difficult circumstances we wonder, "Does God know about this? Does He really know about the circumstances in which I am placed?"

~Ruth Paxson

(continued with # 2)