Jesus was crucified between two criminals. Each witnessed Jesus’ dignity as he was dying. Each heard him offer forgiveness to the very people who were crucifying him. Each had the same experience with Jesus. Yet one mocked. The other repented.

We often play the “If Only” game. You know,
“If only I made more money…”,
“If only I were raised in a Christian household…”,
“If only my husband hadn’t left…”.
Then my life would be better.

But what we learn from these two criminals is this:

“It is not our circumstances that determine our success but it is what choose to see and believe in the middle of our circumstances that determine our outcome.”

These two criminals had the exact same circumstances but their outcomes were completely different.

It is easy to blame our circumstances for our lot in life. But Jesus is the great equalizer. Each of these men had access to Jesus. One chose to believe. The other chose to ridicule. One chose to acknowledge he was wrong. The other chose to hurl accusations. One asked Jesus for the impossible. The other remained silent in his pride. Same circumstances. Different responses. Same circumstances. One lived. The other died.

It’s time to stop blaming our circumstances and start trusting our God!

“And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.””
‭‭LUKE‬ ‭23:42-43‬ ‭NASB‬‬