My Circumstances
Matthew 1:18-21
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”
Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie had been imprisoned by the Nazis for hiding Jews behind the wall of their Holland home, and Nazi prison conditions were pretty well unbearable.In the midst of their suffering, the women prisoners around Corrie and Betsie held little Bible studies, They gathered around the Bible “like waifs” clustered around the blazing fire. There’s one catch in this story. Bibles weren’t allowed in the prison camps. How they got away with this is because the guards refused to walk in their barrack. It was flea infested.
Sometimes, the circumstances we are put in just don’t make sense.
God used fleas to keep the barrack supervisors out so that they could hold a Bible study without interruption or persecution. God used these two women to give hope to others in a hopeless circumstance. God uses whoever is willing to lose everything and allow God to do anything through them and their circumstances.
Joseph was one of those guys.
• He was a just man
• He was a righteous man
• He was a commoner
• He was a devout follower of the customs of his religion with his observance of Passover.
• He was a man of integrity and willingness to be obedient to God’s direction and guidance.
Joseph was willing to put his reputation on the line. He was willing to be obedient when being obedient didn’t make any sense. Joseph did not just “have to go along with this plan” because of the special requirements of Mary. Joseph, of his own free will, wanted to know what God’s will was, and to do it. He obeyed God despite the circumstance that told him that he should divorce Mary quietly. This was within his right to do. Despite the circumstances Joseph 
chose to do the right thing. He chose to serve Mary. Joseph didn’t get to choose these circumstances.
Most of the time our circumstances tend to choose us.
- None of us got to choose our parents
- None of us got to choose our brothers and sisters.
- None of us got to choose what city, state, and country you are born
Corrie and Betsy didn’t choose to be thrown in a Nazi concentration camp. They didn’t choose to be Jewish. Joseph and Mary didn’t choose the circumstances that they were part of. No one gets to choose their circumstances. But all of us are chosen to do something with the circumstance. Instead of complaining about your circumstances have you ever thought you were chosen to go through circumstances you are going through? Have you ever thought it was a badge of honor rather than a recipe for defeat?
Joseph was presented with a tough circumstance. Like Mary, he probably would had not had written his script this way. God chose Joseph for such as time as this. Joseph didn’t choose the circumstance. But he was chosen to do something with the circumstance. He was perfectly within his rights to quietly divorce Mary. He also had the right to have Mary stoned for not keeping her part of the agreement. In this circumstance Joseph chose to do something with the 
circumstance. He chose to serve Mary.
Sometimes the circumstances that we are put into just doesn’t make sense. We would have never chosen the circumstances we have faced in life. Some have faced cancer. Some have faced divorce. Some have had ones they loved die way to soon. Most of us wouldn’t have written the script for our lives the way God has written it.
Paul wouldn’t have chosen imprisonment, being shipwrecked, and left for dead. The disciples wouldn’t have chosen to be ridiculed, mocked, and martyred. We are not in charge of the script. Hebrews 12:2 reminds that He is the initiator and perfector our faith.
We spend a lot of time wondering why we are in the circumstances we are in. Why are we poor? Why does are car keep breaking down? Why didn’t I get that job? Why didn’t this happen? Why didn’t that happen? We need to stop questioning the circumstances we are in (too much questioning leads to being paralyzed and not doing anything) and start doing something.
I learned something about my family recently that I had never known before. I learned how poor my family was when we were growing up. I never knew the reason why we had gravy and bread sometimes. It was because my mom and dad couldn’t afford to buy groceries that week. As a kid I didn’t understand that we were that poor. I am pretty sure my mom and dad understood the circumstances we were in and they did something. I am so thankful they didn’t get paralyzed by the lack of income – they just worked harder. They did something.
The circumstances Joseph was faced with just didn’t make sense. He kept Mary as his wife. He took his 9 month pregnant wife on a 70 mile donkey ride. His son was born in a barn. In the midst of these circumstances what did Joseph choose to do? He chose to serve her. Sometimes the circumstances we are faced with just don’t make sense.
When the circumstance we are in (whether you created the circumstance or not) doesn’t make sense what do we do? We do the same thing as Joseph and the Ten Booms
- Listen for God’s direction.
Tough circumstances make us more aware of God. Tough circumstances teach us to listen a little closer. Tough circumstances help us understand that we are not in control. They help us understand that we do need outside help. If you ask God for direction in the midst of a tough circumstance, he will give it to you. When I was walking through a tough circumstance with one of the churches I have pastored at, I had to make a difficult decision. There were some in the church who thought I was mistreated and unfairly criticized. I had an older gentleman in the church who was a very powerful man in our community and had a strong voice in the church. He knew a lot of people in our community and could persuade people to leave the church so that I could start a new one somewhere else. He was wanting me to be his senior pastor. In that moment a lot of things ran through my mind. It was very flattering and ego building. i remember asking God for direction. I told him what he was saying was not of God. It was wrong.
- Choose to do the right thing even if it doesn’t make sense.
This is the toughest thing you will do when your circumstances are bad. Even when it didn’t make sense to Joseph, he still chose to do the right thing. The right thing was following through on his commitment to stay with Mary even though he could have rightfully divorced her or had her stoned for being unfaithful.The Ten Booms held a bible study to give hope where everything was hopeless. They didn’t have to do it. In fact it didn’t make sense to do it. None of these women were ever going to see their kids again. None of these women were ever going to see their homes again. Why give hope to women when there really was no hope of them getting out alive? But they did right thing.
- Serve those around even if it doesn’t make sense.
Our natural desire is to serve ourselves and make our life as easy as it could be. We create this spiritual entitlement mentality that we are here to be served when Jesus flips it and says in Luke 22:27; Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.
Jesus is telling us the most important person in the kingdom of God is the one who serves.
Psychologist tells us that 80% of the people they see their problems could be solved if they would go and server somebody. I am convinced that this is why many Christ followers get stagnant in their faith. They don’t serve anybody other than themselves. They change churches thinking that a new church or a new pastor or a new program is going to help spark their faith. The key to not getting stagnant in one’s faith no matter where you go to church is investing yourself into someone else’s life. That’s why when you read the book of Acts you see a compelling faith. They weren’t stagant because they were business serving others.
When you are in or going through difficult circumstances, choose to serve somebody. When you are not going through difficult circumstances, choose to serve somebody. If you consider yourself a shy person choose to serve somebody. If you are rich or poor, choose to serve somebody. No matter what your circumstances in life are, no matter if they make sense or not, if you are a Christ follower, choose to serve somebody.
This is what Joseph did.
This is what the Ten Booms did.
This is what Jesus did.
In each case God used the circumstance they were in even though it didn’t make much sense. They chose to serve despite their circumstances.
What about you? Do your circumstances dictate your life or do you allow your faith to dictate your life? I can guarantee you that whatever circumstance you are in, even though it might not make sense while you are in the middle of it. God will use that circumstance if we are willing to trust him, if we are willing to stay obedient, if we are willing to surrender our sense of spiritual entitlement, it will change your life. It won’t necessarily make it better it will draw you closer.
The next time a flea jumps on you at your home or someone else’s home think of the Tenbooms and what they did with the dark circumstances they were in.
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