The trouble with difficult circumstances is there are usually other people involved. And that makes things far less black and white. There are other opinions, emotions, intentions, and thoughts involved in the situation you’re trying to navigate. To add to the difficulty, you probably don’t know the motives behind each person involved and that can change how you respond.
All of this to say, being stuck in difficult circumstances with other people makes things very messy.
In any circumstance, you are unable to bear the responsibility of other people’s actions. The one thing you can do is cautiously and prayerfully consider your own actions. What is your next step in resolving the difficult circumstance?
You have to stay faithful to what you know God has called you to do. This isn’t always easy, because it might be a difficult decision you have to make. It might mean a loss of relationship or a decision that will cost you more than you would like. But the only step forward is the one God has called you to take. He will work out the rest of the pieces that you don’t know.
In order to maintain peace in difficult situations, you have to remain obedient to what God is calling you to do. Regardless of the cost.
3. Be Content With Any Outcome.
Your present circumstance might make you feel like you’re in the darkest valley of your life. And as you weigh all the possible outcomes, it might seem like only one of them will ultimately be good. And based on our human understanding of things, you could be right.
But if we truly know God to be trustworthy and faithful in all things, then we have to believe that he’s trustworthy and faithful even in those difficult, life-altering circumstances.
We can’t choose to only live this truth out if the one good outcome comes to pass. We have to live this truth out regardless of the outcome. It doesn’t matter how the circumstances is resolved. You can still find contentment in Jesus.
Contentment and peace aren’t based on your circumstances or the outcome of a particular situation. They’re based on knowing who God is. When we set our minds and hearts on him, rather than on an outcome, we can find peace even when the outcome is terrible.
Will it be hard? Most likely. Will it be painful? You bet. But the promise of God is not that our lives would be easy, but that he would be with us every step of the way. For us to know we can depend on him. We are not left in anguish.
God sees the difficulty of your circumstance—the pain you are enduring. He will never just leave you there.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
(1 Peter 5:10)
Even in the midst of difficult and painful circumstances, we can have peace.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
