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| Queen Anne's lace in our backyard (a lofty name for a weed!) |
The great virtues of the Jesus-life, faith, hope, and love, are circumstance-in dependent. So are the "fruit of the Spirit" - love, peace, patience, joy, etc.
"Peace," for example, the kind that Jesus (not the world) gives, is independent of life's circumstances that impinge on us. Indeed, it is precisely when life's circumstances that we need a peace that is not of this world.
When Paul was imprisoned in Ephesus he wrote letters to various churches, such as his letter to the Colossians. Paul's circumstances were that he was in chains. But this did not stop his ministry or hinder his calling as apostle to the Gentiles. He spent much time, e.g., praying for the Colossian Jesus-followers. "I have not stopped praying for you," he writes in Colossians 1:9. Paul's physical circumstances did not hinder or halt the calling God had on Paul's life.
God is not bound by circumstances. Therefore we who abide in Christ are not bound by circumstances.
Pray to understand this. Otherwise our sense of God's calling will be a function of the ups-and-downs of our environment and our situation. Remember that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. There will be ups and downs, victories and defeats, healings and casualties. Still, God's plans and purposes for us remain, and will ultimately win the day.
Keep your eyes on the calling of God, and off the stormy waters of the seas around you. Be God-dependent and circumstance-independent.
