Your Circumstances Do Not Determine Your Future - God Does

By Gary J. Norris

DON'T WORRY! GOD ALREADY HAS A PLAN!

If you're currently in what you deem an impossible situation, you must understand that God knew you'd be here long before you ever got here. And he made a way to deliver you from it in advance. He did this so that when you got in your mess, the way to come out would already be in place

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Aug 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887387574

Gary J. Norris

Gary Norris is an author, minister, and teacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He believes that the church, walking in her true identity, is the answer to many of the problems being experienced in the world today. He, together with his wife, Narricus, has seven children and eleven grandchildren.

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Introduction

In my many years of walking with the Lord, I have discovered an amazing truth when it comes to how He has chosen to work in the earth.

God, in His infinite wisdom, places His answer in man. He will then strategically place that man around the people and problem in which that man is holding the answer.

Moses held God’s answer to the children of Israel coming out of Egyptian captivity. David held his answer to the people’s problem with Goliath.

Noah held God’s answer to the upcoming flood, as did Joseph to the seven-year famine. Even Jesus, Himself, held the answer to the world being reconciled back to the Father again.

God is madly in love with us. He has never left His children to fight any battle in their own strength. He has always provided an answer to whatever they were facing. And since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), we can be confident He will do the same for us now.

So, if you’ve been praying concerning a situation that seems overwhelmingly impossible to overcome, I want to share a prophetic word with you, spoken to my heart by the Holy Spirit of God when I found myself in such a dilemma.

Your circumstances do not determine your future; God does!

Whether what you’re experiencing right now is due to someone else’s negligence, or something of your own doing. God has the know-how and ability to turn it around and make it work for your good.

He’s not running around heaven wracking His brain trying to come up with a solution to your problem. He actually knew you would be facing this very thing way before you did.

In fact, before you got into your mess, God had already made a way for you to come out of it. So that when you got in it, the way to come out was already in place. Which simply means that while you’ve been busy trying to figure your situation out, your heavenly Father has already figured it out for you.

So, stop focusing on what everyone else around you are saying and thinking about you and your circumstances. Because what they are saying cannot change what God has already said concerning you. And what they think does not change God’s thoughts toward you.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NKJV)

I am truly excited about what the Father is doing in this season, and you should be as well! Because the very fact that you are reading this is proof that He desires you to take part in it. I believe in my heart of hearts that this little book finding its way into your hands is not a coincidence, but a divine appointment from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

You have been praying, and God has been listening. Now it’s your turn to hear what He has to say to you. There are some things that He wants to teach and instruct you on that are going to radically transform your life and circumstances forever. So please read on thoughtfully and prayerfully and get ready to be blessed beyond measure.

I know what your heart longs for and I will grant your every desire.

Chapter 1

When I was a child

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)

Growing up as a young boy, I can clearly recall having a deep rooted, unexplainable ‘knowing’ that there was something more to life than what I was experiencing. I could not answer the ‘how’ or ‘why’ I knew. I just knew.

I come from a fairly large family, the sixth born of eight children. Needless to say, there was never a dull moment in our household. My stepdad worked long, hard hours in construction, while my mom worked even harder in the home raising us kids. She was a very strict disciplinarian, and with eight children she had to be.

I’m not sure just how familiar she was with the Bible, and more specifically the book of Proverbs, but there is one particular verse of scripture that she practiced regularly. He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly Proverbs 13:24, NKJV. I smiled the first time I came across this scripture, thinking how my mom must have really loved her children.

In our home, school was mandatory, and prayer was practiced, but mostly at bedtime. On Sundays, we were sent to a little storefront Pentecostal church, which I personally enjoyed a lot. Even if only for the candy treats that were handed out to us kids after every service.

It would be here, one Sunday morning at this little storefront church, that the pastor, while in the midst of his sermon, would suddenly stop, point his finger at me, and began prophesying that I had been called to preach the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Now, at the time, I had no idea how he could have known this, nor did my little eight-year-old mind try to invest much thought into it. However, every time he saw me after that one particular service, he would always greet me with a great big smile and a pat on the back and yell, there goes the little preacher boy! That little storefront went on to become one of the largest and most influential Pentecostal churches in the state of Louisiana.

WHEN LIFE HAPPENS

As the years went by, I learned that life consists of a never-ending cycle of ups and downs, successes and failures, gains and losses, good times and bad times as well. No matter your age, gender, race, or social status, no one is exempt. Life happens to us all.

A major blow for me happened when my beautiful mom unexpectedly died from cancer at only forty-eight-years-old. I was married shortly thereafter and divorced just as quickly. Depressed, I started using and then abusing drugs and alcohol, and found myself on the wrong side of the law and eventually doing time.

I quickly learned that the old saying is true. Sin will take you farther than you are willing to go, keep you longer than you are willing to stay, and cost you more than you are willing to pay. It would be here, at my lowest moment, that I cried out to the Lord from the depths of my soul. And He was right there waiting with wide opened arms, answering me in a way that I have only been able to explain by pointing to Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Please allow me to interject something here. I heard it said that a man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with only an argument. And I agree whole heartedly. Because if you can be argued into something, then you can just as easily be argued out of it.

With that said, there are some who argue that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was something done solely and exclusively for the early church in the book of Acts, but it is not meant for believers today. And to all who share this view, while I’m sure you are truly sincere in your presumption, and I say this in love, you are truly and sincerely misinformed.

What those believers experienced in the upper room portrays impeccably that of my own personal experience. Including the part where they all spoke in tongues as they were given utterance. The Holy Spirit of God flooded my entire being with His glorious presence and power. And I encountered the love, joy, and peace of God in a way I never knew was possible. And though nothing around me seemed any different, I knew in the deepest recesses of my heart that everything had changed.

I finally had the answer to that ‘knowing’ of there being something more to life. Only it was not ‘some-thing’, but ‘Some-One.’ And that Someone was the Lord Jesus Christ in the presence and person of the Holy Spirit of God!

VISION OF BABIES

The Apostle Peter quoted Joel 2, concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, stating that its fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost would result in believers seeing visions, dreaming dreams, and flowing in the prophetic (Acts 2:14-21). And such would be my experience.

One day, while seeking the Lord in a season of prayer and fasting, I fell into a trance and suddenly a vision started playing out right before my eyes. It was as if I was watching a television screen. In this vision, I saw a beautiful young woman walk into a church service carrying her young, infant child. She walked effortlessly down to the front of the church, found a seat, sat down, and listened as the preacher ministered the word of the Lord. All the while paying very close attention to her child’s every need. When the minister had finished, she stood, gathered her baby and belongings, and walked promptly out of the service.

The vision then switched, and another one immediately began to play out before my eyes. Again, I saw this same beautiful, young woman walk into a church service carrying her infant child. Only this time the child looked to be the size of a teenager. But she still had him dressed in a big diaper, with big baby booties on his feet, a teeny tiny baby tee shirt, and a big baby bib tied around his neck.

She labored strenuously as she carried him down to the front of the church, found a seat, sat down, and listened as the preacher ministered the word of the Lord. Again, paying very close attention to her child’s every need. When the minister had finished, she struggled to her feet, gathered her now teen sized baby and belongings, and tottered down the aisles and out of the church.

The vision ended and I sat baffled at what I had just witnessed. I began seeking the Lord as to what this could possibly mean and imagine my shock when I heard Him say, THIS IS THE CONDITION OF MANY BELIEVERS IN THE CHURCH! Consider these scriptures.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to BABES IN CHRIST. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NKJV)

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, FOR HE IS A BABE.

Hebrews 5:12-13 (NKJV)

These passages of scripture were written to believers admonishing them for not being where they ought to be spiritually, but were instead showing themselves carnal through bickering, fighting, and sowing division amongst the brethren. Perhaps thinking themselves to be something when in reality their actions proved them nothing more than BABES IN CHRIST.

Combining what I had seen in the vision with what scripture was revealing, I came to the realization that the Father was confirming, and with good reason, that what was true concerning those believers in the early church back then, is just as true for many believers in the twenty first century church today!

For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

1 Corinthians 3:3 (NKJV)

It’s possible to be around the very Christians described here and not recognize them for who scripture says they are. Reason being is most of them are really good at disguising themselves by hiding behind expensive jewelry and designer clothing. And have become proficient in all the latest religious jargon and idiosyncrasies.

Their mannerisms are impeccable. At least when in public settings. And many hold prestigious positions that carry fancy titles and letters in the front of or behind their names. They are Pastor ‘So and So." Or Dr. ‘Such and Such.’ Prophet ‘This’ or Apostle ‘That.’ They are ministers, deacons, ushers, or some other fixture in the church, and have been faithfully serving the Lord for many years.

But, if God was to pull back His spiritual curtain exposing their true condition, you would be shocked to see that these long-standing, well-respected members of the Body of Christ, who, pretentiously, stand head and shoulders above everyone else, are nothing more than spiritually immature, oversized babies, in wet, soggy diapers, and are in need of serious change. Here are some of the ways you can easily and readily identify them.

They are the ones who are always whining and complaining about someone else getting the promotion they felt should have been awarded them.

The ones who always feel a need to ‘speak their minds’ or ‘voice their opinions’ on a matter, whether they are asked to or not.

They sadly mistake Christian boldness with being rude and obnoxious. Using the pulpit as a battering ram to air out their personal grievances, instead of a place for releasing the love and benevolence of the Father.

They are busybodies; backbiters; gossips. Always having the latest dirt on what’s going on in everyone else’s life yet are easily offended