We Are Not Victims

So often the Christian testimony we hear is negative, with so much emphasis being placed on an immediate hurt or problem. This commentary is not to minimize pain or troubles, for they are often too real in our lives. Rather, this post is about looking to the Lord and not letting the circumstances we are in defeat us and cause us to lose our hope.

In Heb 12:1-2 we are exhorted to look to Jesus and to run the race with endurance; to put down our burdens and get our focus on the Lord – not the circumstances.

If we look only to the circumstances we can be tossed to am forth and feel like our life is sinking in an overwhelming sea of issues and problems and deadlines. Instead we are to look to Him, to look to Jesus, and to stand on His Word. For as we stand on the strength of the Word and as we are confident in our relationship with Jesus, we do not have to be at the mercy of the world around us, nor do we need to be victims of all the waves of circumstances around us. Heb 6:19 tells us that we have hope because Christ is our anchor, the anchor that is hooked into the very presence of God.

In Ps 40 the Psalmist tells us how he was lifted out of the miry clay and set upon a rock. The Lord picked him up and set him on a solid foundation, even putting a new song in his mouth.

He is the glory and the lifter of our head; He is our hope and our confidence. He has made us to be the Head and not the tail (Deut 28:13), in Him we are more than overcomers (Rom 8:37-39), and through our relationship with Christ we are seated in heavenly places, far above all earthly powers and principalities. If Christ be for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31). Greater is He within us that he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Here are a couple lines from some old songs that help make this point;

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness…On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

We are not without hope in this world; in fact we have hope in the very person of Jesus Christ and the personal relationship we have with Him. Col 1:27 – Christ in you the hope of glory

Having reviewed all of this we can do something about the circumstances, for we can turn them upside down. We do not have to live under the circumstances, for in Christ we are above all circumstances. The best thing we can do is to stop complaining and start proclaiming, start proclaiming about how you are free in Christ, how He has given you victory, and how He has made you to be an overcomer. A powerful scripture for us to remember and to make our practice is 1 Peter 3:15. In this verse we are told to always be ready to speak of the hope that is within us. Let’s turn this world right side up by speaking the truth of His word. By doing this we will find that we are no longer victims of the circumstances, and we will see and experience the victory Christ has given to us. But that is not all, for as we boldly proclaim His truth and we let His victory be established in our lives we because shining examples and witnesses of His glory and His hope in the earth. Not only does He save us, but He puts in us the Word and the hope that can reach those in the world around us.

God Bless you all