DAILY DEVOTIONAL – DECEMBER 3, 2022  Our God vs Our Circumstances By John Bailey

Maybe you're struggling through some things today, and the circumstances are so far from ideal that you feel hopeless. I want to encourage you in this situation. When I had just started a new church, we were put out of the facility we were at, so we had to move into part of this movie theater. Well, the movie theater was actually the perfect place for Easter because so many people showed up that our auditorium was full. I was really encouraged, thinking “God is definitely going to move today.” Now, you know at movie theaters they start the music around 45 minutes to an hour before a showing? I thought we would be fine because movies don’t typically play that early in the morning. Well, the times had changed for Easter. We had the sermon, then I was coming to the altar call, and this automatic music comes up from the movie theater, and it’s loud. I don't listen to a lot of music, but the woman in this song is going on and on about shaking something in the club. Not exactly the music that you want rattling the walls as you make an altar call. I actually found out later it was Beyoncé. Anyway, this song is playing like it’s never going to end. I tried to make a few jokes. Anybody ever been in that place where you're trying to buy time? Finally, I gave up and just made the altar call. About 20 people asked Jesus to be their Savior with Beyoncé singing overhead. God can do anything. We forget that so easily, especially when something goes wrong, when part of our plans fall off the rails. In those moments, we have to remember who God is and say with the writers of scripture,  “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17, ESV). Maybe you’re in a season of a new beginnings, or you’re facing a dearly-held dream collapsing. No matter what situation you're in, I want to tell you that God can do powerful things through your life. He is not limited by your circumstances.  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).