Circumstances, Part 1

Can you determine whether or not God is pleased with you by evaluating the circumstances around you? If so, then God is pleased and blesses you when circumstances are suitable, and pleasant, and to your liking. On the other hand, if you are in the midst of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day—or week, or season—then God is not pleased with you. Apparently you are not trusting Him as you should, not walking by faith as He wills, or are not filled with the Holy Spirit as He commands.

If the kids are doing well, then God must be satisfied. If business is rebounding, then God must be blessing you. If your world is in relative peace, then apparently God’s hand is on you. If everything is going your way, then God’s care is evident.

But if the converse is your experience, then God is not happy and He desires for you to do more—more trust, more faith, more prayer, more contemplation of Scripture, more spiritual discipline, more consistency, etc.

Bluntly:  If life is as you want it to be, then God is pleased with you. If it is not, then God wants you to do differently.

True?

Here’s the rub:  We read in the Scriptures that people of profound faith trusted God and He delivered them from the lion’s den unscathed (Dan. 6:16, Heb. 11:33). We also know from history that other people of profound faith trusted God and the lions tore them to pieces and ate their parts. Both trusted God, both demonstrated faith. God delivered one and let the other die a torturous death.

Was He pleased with the one and displeased with the other?