A God wise enough to create me and the world I live in is wise enough to watch out for me. - Philip Yancey
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.- 1 John 4:4
We live in a fallen place. We live in between the comings of Christ. The First Coming was to rescue and redeem and empower us. Jesus came, and died, and rose again, defeating death. He now gives us power and authority over death, with our wills and our status in the Kingdom, if indeed we are Kingdom citizens. That is the first order of business: moving from a citizen of Darkness to a citizen of the Light. Jesus is the Light.
Once we are born again, our status as God's reclaimed, we are to then walk as the friends of God, engaged in the Kingdom of God and all its vast enterprises. We see this when Jesus ascends back to the throne to go and prepare a place for us. He promises to come back a second time to end the great war. Until then, he basically says,
“Go and live like I did, like I taught you to, loving one another. Help others into the Kingdom and show them how to live an overcoming life. And stay close to me, there is so much I want to say and do with you, teach, counsel and comfort you. We are with you, the Trinity … Fathering you, being your friend, and living in you to see this Kingdom life accomplished. We saved you to set you free and now we are going to teach and train you in how to do just that: live free.”
That is where the “overcoming” comes in. It is an active engagement between us and God to see what is in the way of us receiving his love and life and overcoming it. Jesus called the Prince of Darkness, Satan, the Father of Lies, so we ought to pay attention to anyting that has set itself up against our relationship with God. And friends, there are parts of our past and there will be pieces of our future that need redeeming … overcoming. We can literally walk with God to reach back in our stories and get free from lies that were deposited through hurtful moments, where guilt, shame, and fear have lodged themselves, compromising our well being. The good news is that where we are unable to help ourselves, God helps. He is always moving to help.
Reach for his hand. Listen for his voice. Look for his presence in your present circumstances. He is always inviting us into either Healing or Training. Healing from our past, and Training for today.
What are you facing that needs overcoming? If you’re not sure, ask God. He is.