After a week of vacation, The Up Daily Devotional is back five mornings a week. To the new subscribers who have joined us in the past week, welcome! Okay, on to today’s devotional…

Your circumstances have a big impact on you. They can influence how you see the world. 

If someone in your day-to-day life is constantly criticizing you, that is going to have some sort of impact. If someone is constantly encouraging you, that too is going to rub off. A sunny day can influence your mood. So can a rainy day. You get the point. 

Because of this, we often want to change our circumstances if they’re bad. I get it. But if we’re being honest, we can’t always change our circumstances. Perhaps we don’t have any control over who our co-workers are. Perhaps we made some bad life choices and are now living with the unavoidable consequences.

If you can identify with this, missionary Elizabeth Elliot has some helpful insight: “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.”* 

In short, Christ is bigger than bad circumstances. Therefore, Christ being within us is our biggest hope, help and strength.

The idea of Christ being “in us” occurs in a variety of different Scriptures. In John 15:4 Jesus says: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you.” In Colossians 1:27 Paul articulates God’s glorious riches. They are “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

What an incredible and life-changing reality! 

There are things we can control about our circumstances. There are other things we can’t. But if you are in Christ, Christ is in you! And he is greater than any problematic circumstance you face.

Spiritually speaking, we are in a battle (not on vacation). The Devil is gunning for everything that is good, true, loving and faithful. So root yourself in Christ. Be his outreaching hands and feet to a world trembling with uncertainty and fear at the encroaching darkness. Trust that victory is assured. 

Your circumstances make a difference, but they don’t define you. That job belongs to Jesus—a loving King whose crown shines triumphantly over the arc of human history. 

Be not intimidated. Christ is in you, the hope of glory.

Notes:

*As quoted in: Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller, The Songs of Jesus (New York: Viking, 2015), 159.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.