Name: Breakfast Meatballs
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 12 Meatballs
Ingredients: 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage or turkey sausage; 2 eggs; 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats; salt; pepper; 1/4 cup shredded cheese of choice; non-stick cooking spray

Romans 12:2 (cev)

Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

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I’ve been praying for a change in circumstances for as long as I can remember. I think the very first prayer of “change” that I ever prayed was asking God to make me taller. I hated my short stature most of my life. As a kid, anything that makes you different pretty much sucks, and being short was no exception. I got teased regularly for being smaller than all of my friends.

As an adult, circumstances became even more difficult and I wished I could back to a time that my only abnormality was my height. Depression. Anxiety. Infertility. Marriage. Careers. It feels like every day that goes by provides me with a new reason to pray for a change of circumstance. But it seems that God hasn’t budged in regards to my requests, including my petitions for a few extra inches without the platform shoes.

Until recently, it hadn’t really occurred to me that God allowed the circumstances in my life for a reason. I’m really just now fully processing the idea that perhaps, He had – has – a plan for me that made those difficult trials necessary.

As I reflect on some of those things that I’ve been praying to disappear, I can begin to see that God isn’t changing my circumstances because He wants to change my mind, or my heart, or both. What if I’ve had the wrong idea of what’s beautiful all along? If God had obliged and given me those few extra inches, I would never accept myself as perfect, the way that He created me (still not there, by the way… but working on it). If He had healed me from depression with a magic wand, I might not have known Him the way that I do now, or at all.

I reference this verse a lot, and I imagine it feels a bit cliche at this point, but Romans 8:28 tells us that, “We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose (CEV).”

As hard as it is to swallow, that means that our difficult circumstances will lead to good. I think it’s important to distinguish the difference between the things God allows and the things He initiates. We may never know the difference, but there is one. God does no harm; sin does. Whether or not He allows it, however, is a different story.

The book of Job is the perfect example of this. All the way back in Job chapter 1, we can read about Job, having it all. A good life, a great family, tons of wealth, and an incredible relationship with the Lord. When I think about those moments, my heart hurts for Job. I think we all know that feeling of “the moments before”. Everything is fine, and then one day, it isn’t. But right up until that moment, we’re living blissfully clueless about what’s coming down the pike. That’s what happened to Job.

One day, the devil, in all his scheming, attempted to make a point about Job’s loyalty and motives for serving God. And here’s the kicker: God allowed it. Not once, but twice.

“The Lord said to Satan, “All right, do whatever you want with anything that he has, but don’t hurt Job himself.” Then Satan left the meeting (Job 1:12 ERV).”

“So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, Job is in your hands, but you are not allowed to kill him (Job 2:6 ERV).”

For the next 36 chapters, we see Job suffer through awful circumstances. Then just as quickly as they started, they stopped. God came to Job’s rescue and restored not only his health, but all that He’d lost. However, God didn’t come the first time Job prayed, or the second time, or the third. He didn’t come when Job’s friends arrived and prayed for him. He didn’t come when his family died, or when his friends discouraged him with their incorrect beliefs. God came to Job in the right time, and until then, He allowed Job to experience those circumstances.

Instead of praying for a change of circumstance, we can start praying for a change of heart and mind. When we’re walking through something, we can be sure that there’s a good reason for it. And although that doesn’t take away the hardship, it can provide us with the hope we need to remain faithful as we put one foot in front of the other.

Write

What are some of the circumstances that you’ve been praying for God to remove from your life? Take a look at them and try to determine what good might come out of them.