A friend of mine, wise and astute beyond his years (so he tells me), has shared his newly discovered motto with me: “It is what it is.”\u00a0 Ok, so I have thought that a few times before, but it is one of those simple statements that forces us back to reality at times when we may feel overcome by our circumstances and disappointments of life.\u00a0 When things aren’t exactly as you would desire them to be, you can become focused on reality by telling yourself, “It is what it is.”<\/p>\n
Circumstances are what they are.\u00a0 There are some things we can change, and some things we can’t (we are getting more profound as we go).\u00a0 Our problem is that we often expend more worry and energy on the things we can’t change; and this, in turn, can become a stumbling block to our spiritual growth and joy.\u00a0 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?<\/em>” (Matthew 6:27).\u00a0 Paul’s own circumstances were often less than ideal, and beyond his control, yet his attitude remained stable: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am.\u00a0 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me<\/em>” (Philippians 4:13).\u00a0 If I may venture a loose paraphrase: It is what it is, I have learned to deal with “it” through God’s help.<\/p>\n “Moses My servant is dead.<\/em>”\u00a0 So spoke the Lord to Joshua in (Joshua 1:2). Joshua knew this already; they had been mourning for days.\u00a0 But sometimes we need a reminder of the simple truth about reality.\u00a0 Essentially, God was telling Joshua, “Moses is gone, and you can’t change that now or have him back.\u00a0 Now it’s time to get up and go take the land of promise.”\u00a0 In other words, “it is what it is, and you have to work with “it” the way it is.”<\/p>\n The only option is not to accept reality.\u00a0 People do sometimes go through phases of “denial.”\u00a0 They do not feel mentally able to accept what “is.”\u00a0 It hurts too much perhaps.\u00a0 But if we will ever “arise and cross over this Jordan” in our lives, we must learn to accept the facts and circumstances of life as they are.\u00a0 It takes courage.\u00a0It takes resolve. But, it must be done.<\/p>\n “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.\u00a0 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus<\/em>” (Philippians 4:6, 7).\u00a0 God gives us the tools to be able to deal with all of our circumstances, including the painful ones.\u00a0 He wants us to cast our cares on Him, pray about them, and then let Him grant us peace in our hearts.<\/p>\n The solution to problems is not denial.\u00a0 We should learn to admit reality, then work with it as it is.\u00a0 When there are matters we can change for the better, let’s work to change them.\u00a0 When the circumstances don’t meet our concept of ideal, and we can’t change them, let’s learn to accept them and resolve to move forward with the strength God supplies.\u00a0 In all matters, we must “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness<\/em>” (Matthew 6: 33).\u00a0 Because, as another one of my favorite “profound” questions reminds us, a hundred years from now, what will “it” matter?\u00a0 We worry about things that will pass into oblivion, and sometimes ignore those matters that have eternal consequences.\u00a0 A hundred years from now, it won’t matter that my car has a few scratches on it, or my water heater went out.\u00a0 What will matter is whether or not I have devoted myself to God and His Will.\u00a0 It is what it is.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by T. Doy Moyer via\u00a0The Jackson Drive Reporter, Jan. 10, 2010 A friend of mine, wise and astute beyond his years (so he tells me), has shared his newly discovered motto with me: “It is what it is.”\u00a0 Ok, so I have thought that a few times before, but it is one of those simple…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1267,1268],"class_list":["post-27597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-acceptance","tag-denial"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-deal-with-my-insecurities\/","url_meta":{"origin":27597,"position":0},"title":"How do I deal with my insecurities?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How would I go about understanding my insecurities and work on eliminating them or coming to terms with them? I realize that my insecurities negatively affect every relationship that I am currently in and ones that I have lost because of my issues. I don't want to continue to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90878,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-is-good-all-the-time-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":27597,"position":1},"title":"God Is Good All the Time (2)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores God is good! That pithy phrase pops up in my newsfeed several times a day, usually in a comment where someone reports something good in their life. It could be favorable results from a medical test, the arrival of a new baby, a financial windfall, the purchase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-cant-go-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":27597,"position":2},"title":"You Can’t Go Back","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I visited the place where I grew up, Union Springs, Al., to see how things had changed after 30 years. The house was still there, the fence was gone, most of the rental houses to the left were gone, and the big Weeping Willow tree next\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35831,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-a-person-doesnt-know-the-wrong-you-did-is-confession-required\/","url_meta":{"origin":27597,"position":3},"title":"When a person doesn’t know the wrong you did, is confession required?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have committed adultery many times during the past 30 years of my marriage and in many instances lied to cover up my absence. During the last year or two, I have earnestly started to read the bible and now feel extremely guilty about my past poor behaviors. Since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90005,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/some-things-ever-changing-and-some-things-never-changing\/","url_meta":{"origin":27597,"position":4},"title":"Some Things Ever-Changing, and Some Things Never-Changing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Philip C. Strong We probably need both sets, but ought to really give thanks for the things that never change! I've never considered myself necessarily \"lucky\" when it comes to games of chance and the like. But I am very \"fortunate\" in any number of ways. One of these,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24339,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-put-negative-circumstances-in-our-path\/","url_meta":{"origin":27597,"position":5},"title":"Does God put negative circumstances in our path?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God bless. Really enjoyed the online article about\u00a0Overcoming Bitterness by Lawrence Kelley.\u00a0 The analogy of the \"sweet wood\" of the cross making our bitter souls sweet was excellent.\u00a0 I am going to share that at our next Bible Study. He did, however, contradict the scriptures when he wrote: \"He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}