circumstances Archives - Passion for Planting https://church-planting.net/tag/circumstances/ Keeping church planters focused on people. Mon, 10 Feb 2020 19:50:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://church-planting.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-P4P-Favicon-32x32.jpg circumstances Archives - Passion for Planting https://church-planting.net/tag/circumstances/ 32 32 4 Attitudes You Can Choose Today https://church-planting.net/4-attitudes-you-can-choose-today/ Fri, 14 Feb 2020 10:00:22 +0000 https://brandonacox.com/4-attitudes-choose-today/ www.brandonacox.com

4 Attitudes You Can Choose Today .et_post_meta_wrapper by Brandon Cox: Sometimes God takes me back to kindergarten, spiritually speaking. I spend time reading theological treatises, but I sometimes forget the most basic and simple of truths. Here’s one of those basic truths I sometimes struggle with: We choose our attitudes. […]

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4 Attitudes You Can Choose Today

4 Attitudes You Can Choose Today

by Brandon Cox: Sometimes God takes me back to kindergarten, spiritually speaking. I spend time reading theological treatises, but I sometimes forget the most basic and simple of truths. Here’s one of those basic truths I sometimes struggle with: We choose our attitudes.

We don’t choose our circumstances. We don’t choose the weather, the direction of the economy, what people around us will do, or the direction of world events. If we could choose our circumstances, we would avoid discomfort every time, and in doing so, we would miss out on some amazing opportunities for growth. So we don’t get to choose our situation, but we do get to choose our attitudes.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

~ Philippians 4:8 NIV

In other words, focus your thinking on better alternatives. Here are at least four attitudes we get to choose:

I Can Choose Confidence In Spite of My Circumstances

My situation might stink, but God always alive, awake, actively working, and attentive to my situation. He saw it coming. He’s fully prepared. He wants to grow me through it and He’s on my side. Those are little truths to throw in the face of the enemy when he plants seeds of doubt. If God is for us (and we know He is) then who or what can possibly be against us?

I Can Choose to Be Positive In Spite of Criticism

Anyone who has ever had any influence on their surrounding culture has endured criticism. And often that criticism comes from the circles of people from whom we would least expect it. But criticism doesn’t have to defeat us. We should draw out of criticism anything that might be true and use it to our advantage. Everything else, we should throw at the feet of Jesus and turn our desire to be defensive over to Him (this is one of my biggest struggles). And we should be tenacious and stubborn enough to keep pressing toward God’s goal for us regardless of what others might say.

I Can Be Hopeful When Nothing Seems Certain

Some of the toughest times we go through aren’t necessarily times of deep loss, but rather are times of waiting, times of uncertainty and unrest. When our presumed reality seems to be threatened and the positive things we were counting on seem to fall through, we can still be hopeful. God’s goal for us doesn’t change. He still intends to shape us into the image of Christ. He’s still going to return in absolute victory someday. He’s still causing us to be more than conquerors through Christ.

I Can Choose to Be Content with Christ Alone

Of the four choices I’m mentioning, this one is by far the toughest. In fact, it really takes a lifetime for us to get this one down. Being content with Christ alone is a difficult attitude to gauge in our western culture because we have so much more than Jesus. I have a family, a home, two cars, food on the table, cable television, air conditioning, and gadgets galore. Will I ever know if I would truly be content with Christ alone? I’m not sure, but what I can do is walk in this attitude on a daily basis when deals fall through, when people let me down, when losses come. I can practice the discipline of saying “Jesus, You are enough. If all I have is You, I’m okay.” Contentment boils down to accepting with gratitude whatever God has in mind for us, surrendering our own idea of what is necessary in exchange for His idea of it.

These are tough. Adopting healthy attitudes is a daily discipline that requires our enjoying time with God in prayer, yielding to others, and cultivating thoughts of gratitude for God’s grace. Regardless of the size of the challenge, I know that all of these attitudes are possible because they are all commanded and exemplified in Scripture.

So choose wisely.

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]]> 3 Ways Great Leaders Handle Tough Circumstances Differently https://church-planting.net/3-ways-great-leaders-handle-tough-circumstances-differently/ Sat, 22 Jul 2017 09:00:49 +0000 https://careynieuwhof.com/3-ways-great-leaders-handle-circumstances-differently/ www.careynieuwhof.com

by Carey Nieuwhof: Circumstances. You face them every day, you are always reacting to them–positively or negatively. Think about it. What situations in your life do you wish would change right now? A different work environment that doesn’t suck the life out of you Better health A happier marriage A closer […]

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by Carey Nieuwhof:

Circumstances.

You face them every day, you are always reacting to them–positively or negatively.

Think about it. What situations in your life do you wish would change right now?

A different work environment that doesn’t suck the life out of you

Better health

A happier marriage

A closer connection with God

A more understanding boss

Less pressure

I mean, I get that. Few of us look over our life and pronounce things perfect.

I can let circumstances get into my head way too easily. It doesn’t even have to be anything serious to upset me. I can let the weather bother me, loud talkers in public places get under my skin or simply the fact that I feel like my to-do list is too long. Good luck to me if God ever wanted to truly test my character.

So far this year, both in my reading (I reread the classic 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders this year) and on numerous podcast interviews, I keep running into a recurring theme: that effective leaders handle circumstances differently than ineffective leaders do.

What’s the difference?

There are at least three deeply significant differences. If you want to imitate the great leaders when you face challenging situations, do these three things.

1.Refuse to Let Your Circumstances Define You

Far too often, we look to our circumstances to determine what’s going to happen next.

Today (and every day), you will be tempted to let your circumstances define you.

It shows up innocently enough:

Well, I can’t because…

That’s awesome for them but you need to understand my situation…

I’d love a chance at that, and yet…

I was going to do it but…

Well sure I would have more success if X wouldn’t be true…

I used to believe that was possible…

So what’s the critical mistake you and I will make over and over again unless we see it and address it?

You’ll let your circumstances define you. And….

If you let your circumstances define you, they’ll defeat you.

They will defeat you. I promise.

In fact, your circumstances will generate an excuse factory in your mind which will produce a thousand reasons why you can’t make the progress you were hoping to make.

They will convince you that you can’t change, that you can’t solve the problems you’re facing, that you need to surrender to an inevitable fatalism.

Let that happen, and you will lead more poorly. You will live more poorly.

If you let your circumstances define you, they will defeat you.

If you let your circumstances define you, they will defeat you.Click To Tweet

2. Stop Blaming God for the Obstacle. See The Opportunity.

The story of God’s people is always a story of God’s hope prevailing amidst tough situations.

The only time circumstances were close to ideal was in the Garden of Eden, and somehow we managed to mess that up.

Otherwise, God has chosen to use:

Dysfunctional families (have you read the story of Joseph??)

Enslaved peoples

A stammering prophet (Moses) who had to go up against the world’s most powerful king

Lion’s dens

Burning furnaces

Whales who love to eat humans

Death on a cross

Prisons and persecution

I always think if I was in one of those circumstances, I would wave a white flag and conclude God had abandoned me.

Which is exactly why you should never let your situation define you.

In each of these cases, God was writing a story that was bigger than any and all of it.

And leaders who realize that truth manage to transcend their circumstances to move into a better tomorrow.

Try to think of a great leader in biblical history or history as a whole whose legacy was a product of their situation.

That’s right. You can’t.

Because none of the great leaders we admire were made by their circumstances.  They refused to let their situation define them. Instead, they overcame them.

They stopped blaming God for the obstacle. Instead, they trusted God for the opportunity. That’s what makes for greatness.

Stop blaming God for the obstacle. Instead, trust God for the opportunity. Click To Tweet

3. Don’t Let Success Seduce You

Of course, you know circumstances don’t always work against you.

Sometimes everything’s going your way. Some of you are in that situation right now. You can’t imagine things lining up better in your favour.

Which is exactly why you should still never let your circumstances define you. Because they will still defeat you.

Here’s how.

You will stop working hard. You’ll stop dreaming about the future. You will even be tempted to let your present momentum carry for forward indefinitely.

And it will carry you, for a season. And then things will grind to a halt.

Just ask any company that has to reinvent itself after a decade on top. Ask any happily married couple that hit cruise control only to discover they started drifting toward the ditch.

When you stop working on it and let circumstances define you, those same circumstances will eventually defeat you.

In fact, you will realize what every leader sliding down the far side of a success curve realizes:

The greatest enemy of your future success is your current success. 

The greatest enemy of your future success is your current success.Click To Tweet

If you don’t constantly fight against your circumstances and seek to transcend them, they will defeat you. Even the good circumstances.

What do you do if all your dreams come true? Ask God for bigger dreams.

What do you do if all your dreams come true? Ask God for bigger dreams. Click To Tweet

So What Circumstances Do You Need to Fight Against Today?

Well–the short answer is, all of them. At least at some level.

That’s why leaders are never content with the status quo. Progress requires we kick hard against the status quo, trusting all the while that if we follow hard after God and his truth, we will find a better tomorrow.

So how would you characterize your circumstances?

What do you hate (or love) right now that you can surrender into the arms of a loving and all-powerful God?

You will lead better.

You will live better.

And your circumstances will no longer define you or defeat you.

What are you learning about circumstances?

Leave a comment!

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