We can do nothing of eternal value in our own ability. –John Bevere
My three year old son is a natural born competitor. He loves all kinds of games, and he’s “in it to win it,” as they say. Even coming up the stairs is a race to him. He’ll cry if anybody in the family gets up the stairs before him. He sings his favorite saying, “I win, I win.” We often mock him by saying it, so when my husband sang it the other day, it caught my little one’s attention. He looked at his father and said, “Dad! You’re playing by yourself, right?” We all laughed, but it made me think about how your perspective is so important in life. My son just knew that his dad had to be playing by himself because he has told himself that he wins all the time—no matter what.
Sometimes I listen to a televangelist who says confidently, “As born again believers, we win every time.” I usually sort of chalk this up to the power of positive thinking, but the encounter with my son really made me think about some things. We can win all of the time, and we can have the victory in any situation. However, our perspective and thinking has to line up with God’s Word and His ways.
Maybe you’re like I was, and you can’t see how you win all of the time. After all, you may be thinking, you don’t know about my health situation, broken relationship, job loss, mental state, or financial devastation. In order to grasp the concept of having the victory, we have to be spiritually minded. We also have to understand what Christ did for us on the cross. He paid the penalty of sin and death. There is no way that we can lose because Jesus already paid the price for us. We can live eternally because of what He did. We are reminded in Romans 8:37, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
When Paul asked the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh, the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (II Corinthians 12:9-10). In our weakness, He is strong, but we have to trust that He is sovereign and in control of everything—no matter what it looks like.
The Word of God is filled with people and situations where the Lord shows himself strong in times of human weakness. In fact, that’s typically always when the Lord shows himself strong. When we understand that anytime our hearts are aligned with Him and His Word, prayer, fasting, and even faithfully attending church, (all things that can be viewed as sacrificial acts when it comes to our flesh), we have already won! When we subdue our own selfish thoughts and desires (die to the flesh), we become humble before Him. He can use us and get the glory out of our lives.
John 16:33 says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We will have problems, but He has always overcome. As cliché as it may sound, there’s nothing too hard for God. We are winners through Christ. Satan is defeated! Do you have a weakness, trial, or illness? You are a prime candidate to be used by the Lord. He will show Himself strong through you and your situation. Depend on Him. He’s allowed it because He knows you already have the victory through Him in all situations. Put on your armor of God with me, and let’s not only act like we’re the victors that we are, but also let’s also speak the language of a winner. In the words of my three year old, “I win, I win!”
Winning with You,
MaRita
