Genesis 9:12-13 “And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”
I was driving home this past week and it started to rain. It wasn’t a downpour, but just a good steady summer rain. As I rounded a curve, I looked up and saw the most beautiful rainbow - every color glowing in distinction. The rain continued as I slowed down and stopped to take a picture. Then, as I began to drive on, within less than a half mile, the rain stopped. The sun shone brightly through the clouds and the rainbow - His promise - remained unchanged glowing above me. As I stared in awe of God’s handiwork before me, it was in that moment, I felt God speak to my heart - “though the circumstances and surroundings change, my promises remain true.”
Friends, our lives change with every fleeting second. Our circumstances are continually changing. Our God, however, is not. He is the same God today that He was yesterday, and He will be the same God tomorrow. He is just as alive today as He was yesterday, and He will be just as alive tomorrow. His promises are just as true today as they were yesterday - as they were a thousand years ago - and they will be just as true tomorrow. Our circumstances change - our God does not.
I know - it’s a pretty basic concept. But if this basic truth is so, well, basic, then why are we still letting our circumstances shape our view of God? Why does our perspective of God depend on our situation or our surroundings? It shouldn’t. “Though our circumstances change, His promises remain true.” I've heard it before, but we can’t put God in a box. We don’t get to decide who God is and what God can do. Thankfully, the limitations that exist in our minds do not impede God - and He doesn’t want those limitations to impede our faith either!
Instead of letting our circumstances shape our view of God, our relationship with God should shape the way we view our circumstances. Our identity - who we are in Christ - should shape our perspective. If we let our circumstances define who He is to us, then we will never fully bask in the peace of His promises. If we let our circumstances define who we are, then we will never fulfill the purpose He has for us. We will never have joy and true contentment because we will constantly be on a rollercoaster battling feelings of supremacy and heartbreak - a never ending cycle of highs and lows, trying to prove ourselves and cover our inadequacies all while wearing a smile and pretending we’ve got it together and silently shaming others when they fall short because it secretly makes us feel better about the hot mess around our own doorstep. (For the record, yes, I know that’s a run-on sentence - but when you read it, isn’t that how we feel sometimes - exhausted, stretched, run-on?)
Oh, dear friend - please hear me, God is for you. He is not against you. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the valley, on the mountaintop or in the back of a cave unable to see the light of day - He sees you. He knows you. His promises are true for you...but you can’t let your circumstances define Him. To take it one step further, don’t let your circumstances define you OR what He can do through you either!
Our worth, if defined by our circumstances, will expire with the next season’s newest edition. Your worth is not defined by this world - if you are letting this world define your worth, God’s heart is breaking. Your worth, your value, your identity - is found on an old rugged cross, where because of His love for you, His son’s blood that was shed for you. That my friends - when our relationship with God begins to shape our view of not only ourselves, but of the world around us - is when we can truly start to live. And in living, we are certainly going to walk through the rain, but we remember, His promises are true. When we walk through the sunshine, we remember, His promises are true. The storms will come and go, and so will the sunshine. But when we are walking with the Lord, when we are clinging to the Rock, when we are clinging to His promises - the storms will rage (and the sun will shine). Though we may be shaken, He will not move. He will not change. When we build our identity on our relationship with the Rock, our perspective changes - our priorities change - our life changes, and you know what, the lives of others around us will change too. So, don’t just “let” God out of the “box” when you “need” him to “fix” something - take His hand and let him lead you on your greatest adventure - pursuing His heart and experiencing first hand that “though the circumstances change, my promises remain true.”
“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” - II Corinthians 1:20
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” - Hebrews 13:8
“For I am the Lord, I do not change…” - Malachi 3:6
“ The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” - Isaiah 40:8
“For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?” - II Samuel 22:32