Under The Circumstances???

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about work and all that, and at some point, she asked me, "so anyway, apart from work, how are you doing?" I replied "I'm good" and in turn I asked her, "How about you? How are you doing?" and she replied "Not too bad under the circumstances"

I paused for a moment, wanting to say something in response to that statement, but for some reason or the other, I held back. I thought about it for the rest of the evening though, but then promptly forgot the conversation, until Sunday night! I attended the Sunday evening service at my sanctuary, and the message was about rising above the storms of life, and then I remembered that conversation and the statement that seemed to bother me so. The combination of that phone call and the message spurred me on to write this.

Now that statement "Not too bad, under the circumstances" lets pause for thought right here; look at the 2nd part of that statement – "under the circumstances!"

When we say "under the circumstances, what are we really saying?

Under means - to be beneath, to be at the bottom of, to be below.
The dictionary describes under as thus:
Beneath, and covered by
Below the surface of
At a point or position lower or further down than
In a position or state of bearing, to sink under a heavy load

Circumstances means – a situation, a state of affairs.
The dictionary further explains circumstances as a condition or fact of attending an event that has some bearing; a determining or modifying factor!

Now that is heavy right? So basically, when we say we are under circumstances, we are effectively saying we are beneath some sort of situation (which usually is not a good one) and this situation has a bearing effect on us, and is determining or modifying our daily reality??! Wooooa! Negative power of words in effect right there!

Based on the definitions and explanations above, as children of the Most High God, the one who resides ABOVE the Heavens, the one who has given us dominion over all things as commanded in Genesis 1:28, which reads "28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” .... 'what in Heavens name are we doing UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES?!'

Surely, that is NOT the place for us to be! We should be over, and above every circumstance!

John 16:33 reads " 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Yes, it does say there will be tribulations, which we can see as circumstances, but it does not say we need to dwell and live under them! Part b of that verse reads "But take heart, because I have overcome the world"
Now surely, if God has already overcome the world, and plus the fact that He has given us dominion over all things, we really have NO RIGHT whatsoever, to be 'under circumstances' won’t you agree?

Going back to the time of Moses, when the Israelites where held captive in Egypt, in Genesis 5: 1 it reads "1And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. "
This was when God commanded Pharaoh to let the people go, so they may hold a feast unto Him, to worship Him! The people of Israel were in captivity in Egypt, they were under the 'circumstances' of slavery and all that it comes with it, one being deprevation of freedom. It is fair to say that in captivity the children of Israel were not able to:

* Freely worship God as they wanted to or should
* Be all they could; be their own people

I believe this applies to us when we say we are 'under circumstances' we will be under the circumstances of our words, of that confession, we will not be free to worship God as we should, or be the best that we know we should!

So, going back to that very conversation and that question, here I am asking you... "How are you doing today?"

And here is me hoping that your response will go somewhat like this: "I'm doing great, for I am an overcomer and I have risen above all circumstances"

Have a wonderful day riding above all circumstances, situations and tribulations; exercising your God given power of dominion, over every single thing, whilst making God famous along the way.

Much Love
Remi Banjo

© February 2008

***pictures by photobucket***