“Your situation is not as important as your interpretation of it.” – Steven Furtick

(Note: Go watch this sermon by Steven Furtick – The Power of Interpretation.  Because it’s amazing.  So definitely watch it.) 

So I don’t know about you but I have done this like 547,342 times:

Someone I know is acting weird around me.  They are not talking as much or not being as responsive as much or not looking me in the eye as much and my first thought goes to this: “they don’t like me”.  Or “they are mad at me”.  Or “I must have done something to hurt them”.  Or “they think I am crazy and are trying to avoid me”.

And usually, around 547,340 of those times, I was wrong.  It was nothing to do with me.  It was rather they had a bad day, or a fight with a loved one, or their boss gave them a hard time, or they just heard some troubling news, or maybe they were just really tired that day.

You see at had nothing to do with me.

But that was my interpretation of what was going on.

I thought it was me.

But I was I wrong.  My interpretation was off the mark.

And I think that happens a lot in our faith.  We think God is going to work through our situation a specific way.  Or we think He will answer our prayers by a certain time.  Or we think He will show us a crystal clear path so we have wisdom and guidance.  Because we prayed and we asked in faith as we waited for Him to answer our prayers.

But then it doesn’t go that way.  In fact, a lot of times it goes the opposite of what we expected.  And we worry about how we could get it so wrong.  Because we don’t see God working.  We are not understanding what He is doing.  So we think He isn’t doing anything.

Right there, in that moment, when we aren’t seeing things the way we thought, we need to realize that our interpretation of the situation is wrong.

God is at work.  Always, He is at work in our hearts and in our lives.  Even if we don’t understand or perceive what He is doing, He is on the move.  And therefore, at these times, we have to let our faith kick in.  We have to remember we don’t live off of what we see…  We live off of what we know.

I heard Robert Madu speak a great word this weekend at my church and he blew us all out of the water with this line: “Whenever your experience doesn’t line up with your expectation God is trying to give you a revelation of who He is!”

Friend, stop spending your time coming up with your own interpretation of your situation when things aren’t going as you thought.  Rather step back, and let your faith rise as you see His revelation for your life!

I don’t know about you but I want that revelation!  So I am laying off what I feel and see for what I know, and that is God is working things out for my good (Romans 8:28).  Besides, with my track record, my interpretation is probably wrong anyways.  😉

This is Day 4 of the series “Choosing Faith: 31 Days to Seeing God in the Midst of it All.”
You can find the beginning of the series here.