Standing Well

But Paul was greatly aggravated, and turning to the spirit, said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews, and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”
Then the mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded. Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
(Acts 16:18-24 HCSB ©®)

I wonder what the rest of this story would have been if Paul had cried out to Yahweh with the complaint that He had failed him by allowing these circumstances to prevail, and preventing his hopes or even the prophetic words over his life to be fulfilled. That wasn’t his response, though:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because all of us are here!”
Then the jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
(Acts 16:25-30 HCSB ©®)

How you stand in response to things that happen can first change your mind about the situation, and then change the circumstances. We don’t change circumstances by focusing on them, though. Circumstances bow when we focus on the throne of the King of Glory. When we focus on His Kingdom and His righteousness, His power and His will cause other things to be forced into alignment. When we focus on misaligned things, we are likely to become misaligned with them.

Watch your stance, not your circumstance.