Living Above Your Circumstances

There’s something no one really prepares you for about this stage of life.

It’s not the beginning, where everything feels full of potential and excitement.

It’s not the end, where things finally start making sense.

It’s the middle.

And the middle is messy.

Lately, life hasn’t looked how I thought it would. I’ve felt stretched in every direction. Emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally. There’s been pressure about the future, stress about things I can’t control, and moments where I’ve felt stuck in between who I was and who I’m trying to become.

And if I’m being honest, there have been moments where I didn’t handle things the way I should have.

But more than anything, this season has been teaching me one thing:

I was never meant to lead my own life.

In John 21:15, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” and then follows it with “Feed my sheep.”

It wasn’t just a question, it was redirection.

And I’ve been realizing that loving God isn’t just something you say. It’s something you show by letting Him lead, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Because the truth is, a lot of my stress has come from trying to control things that were never mine to carry in the first place.

Trying to figure everything out.

Trying to force outcomes.

Trying to hold onto things instead of surrendering them.

But surrender isn’t easy.

Genesis 22:1-2 talks about Abraham being asked to lay Isaac on the altar, the very thing he prayed for, the very thing he loved most. And that’s what surrender really is.

It’s laying something down even when it doesn’t make sense.

Even when it hurts.

Even when you don’t know what happens next.

I’ve had to learn what it looks like to lay things at God’s feet. My plans, my expectations, my relationships, even my own understanding of how things should be going right now.

Because holding onto them tightly was only leaving me anxious and disappointed.

And disappointment has been a big part of this season.

Things not going how I planned.

People not always showing up how I expected.

Life not unfolding on my timeline.

But Isaiah 43:18 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”

And I’ve realized that sometimes we stay stuck, not because God isn’t moving, but because we’re too focused on what didn’t happen the way we wanted.

God can’t do something new in us if we’re constantly looking backward.

So I’ve been trying to shift my focus.

Instead of asking, “Why isn’t this working out?”

I’ve been asking, “God, what are You trying to teach me through this?”

Because He meets us in it.

1 Peter 5:5 says that God gives grace to the humble. And humility looks like admitting, I can’t do this on my own.

It looks like going to God not only when everything falls apart, but all the time.

Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find.”

Not “seek Him when it’s convenient.”

Not “seek Him when things get bad.”

Just, seek Him. Always.

I’m learning that the more I involve God in my daily life, the less controlled I feel by my circumstances.

Because my circumstances are always going to change.

But God doesn’t.

And that changes everything.

Proverbs 14:26 talks about the kind of fear we’re actually supposed to have, the fear of the Lord. Not fear of the future, not fear of failure, not fear of what other people think.

But a deep reverence and trust in God.

And when you have that, everything else starts to lose its power over you.

That doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes easy.

John 16:33 literally promises the opposite: “In this world you will have trouble.”

But it doesn’t stop there.

“Take heart, for I have overcome the world.”

That’s where “living above your circumstances” really begins.

Not in having perfect situations, but in knowing that what you’re facing isn’t bigger than the God you serve.

Psalm 42:5 says, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God.”

And I’ve had to remind myself of that more than once lately.

Because there are days where I do feel overwhelmed.

Days where I feel uncertain.

Days where I don’t have it all together.

But I’m learning that my feelings don’t get the final say. God does.

And John 16:22 says that the kind of joy God gives isn’t something the world can take away.

Which means my circumstances don’t get to take it either.

So no, I don’t have everything figured out.

I’m still in the middle.

Still learning.

Still growing.

But I’m starting to understand that the Third Quarter isn’t about having control, it’s about learning how to surrender.

It’s about choosing to trust God when life doesn’t look how you expected.

Choosing to seek Him daily, not occasionally.

Choosing to lay things down instead of carrying them.

And choosing, no matter what’s going on around you, to live above your circumstances,

by staying rooted in something greater than them.