This is How We Overcome
I QUIT! This is too difficult and it HURTS!
I cannot tell you how many times those words have floated through my head! Developing a lifestyle of overcoming failure, pain, rejection, and the many other obstacles that the enemy will send at us, requires more than just a desire to overcome. Desire can bring about change. However, if we are waiting to “feel like fighting”, then nothing will change until our desire to change exceeds our desire to keep the status quo – and the pain associated with change. That is the difficulty for most people – they desire change, but their desire does not outweigh their fear or the pain associated with it. So, waiting on the desire to change is a fickle way to achieve success.
This is why it’s important to engage our will. Our will is in a constant struggle against our desire. The reason most of us fail to engage our will is because we haven’t exercised it enough. Our desires are well-trained and used, they are accustomed to getting their way. On the other hand, our will tends to be weak, consequently it is usually disregarded. It typically runs contrary to our desire, so it is accustomed to sitting in the background – ignored. So, we make decisions from our desires and passions, rather than from what we know is right or wrong.
Engaging our will requires intentionality and practice. You probably heard me say this before, but it starts with the small things. If we don’t engage our will in the areas that we consider insignificant or “small”, we will never have the strength of will to lift the heavier things that life throws at us.
Let me give you an example. I have a strong desire to get in better shape – lose a few pounds and put on some muscle. Yesterday was a workout day. I thought about working out all day. I “desired” to do it, but the pain that would be required was greater than my desire to workout. So, what happened? I pushed my workout to today. Yesterday I was relying on my desire to get me where I wanted to go, but it lost the battle to my desire to avoid pain. Today, if I am going to win the battle, I must engage my will. I have to push through with what some call my “willpower”. Now, my willpower is not very strong when it comes to physical exercise – so I need to put it to use and give it some “muscle.” So, today, I am going to engage my will and go workout. It’s a small step, but it’s important to take that step. Remember, “the most important step you can take is the next one.”
As our family has walked through tragedy, trauma and transition, we’ve had to be intentional about engaging our will. Don’t get me wrong, our heavenly Father has been abundantly and overwhelmingly gracious to us in this season. However, there is a time when we have to learn to stand and BE the overcomer that Father God has created us to be. That means making some decisions that are painful, difficult and maybe even a little frustrating.
Early on in our season of loss, I argued a lot with God. Of course, I was angry with God. I think I’ve already mentioned that I still have days where I am mad at Him. One time in particular, I heard Him clearly ask me, “Are you going to leave me too?” I didn’t feel it was asked out of sadness or fear (He’s God, He knows everything already).
He was asking me for my sake.
Suddenly, I remembered a similar story in the Gospel of John. In chapter 6, the disciples had just witnessed Jesus walking on water in the midst of a storm. They were obviously moved by the miraculous display and in awe of Jesus, but after arriving on the other side, Jesus is speaking to His followers and makes some very outlandish statements. He said things like, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Now, today, we understand that Jesus was referring metaphorically to His death and it’s correlation to the Jewish celebration of Passover – that He would be the final lamb, and His blood would be spilled for our sins and His body broken for our healing. The Jews following Jesus however, did not understand. Even His disciples said in verse 60, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” It was so hard for them to believe, that it says many of His disciples left Him after they heard it. Remember, Jesus had just walked on water and they were moved emotionally by His display of power. So, this was like throwing water on the fire. Jesus was up to something. He wanted to know where their hearts were and if they were going to let the mysteries of His identity and power water down their belief.
So, He turned to His “inner circle”, His close friends and disciples. He asked them in verse 67, “Do you want to go away as well?” Here is what Peter said in the next verse, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
They weren’t going anywhere. NOT because they understood His strange statement about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, but because in spite of the mystery of those words, they knew He had the only words of eternal life. Peter was right, where else would they have gone?
When God asked me that question, I immediately knew the answer and I immediately knew how Peter and the disciples must have felt in that moment. I can hear Peter give an audible “sigh”, and say, “where else will we go?” It was a turning point in my walk with God. Suddenly I knew that my commitment to Him was no longer based on my lack of understanding of those things that are mysteries. I made a choice in that moment. As Job said, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him….” (Job 13:15)
It’s a choice of our will that overcomes our fear and our desire to run away.
We will all face those moments in our lives. Those places where nothing makes sense and our desire is screaming to be let out, to run, to get away. Our will steps in at that moment and says, “Desire, sit down and shut up. We’re not going anywhere, because everywhere else is worse than this. He has the words of eternal life and we’re staying with Him…even when it doesn’t make sense.”
I read a post the other day, I can’t remember who wrote it or where I read it but, it said, “You can quit or you can keep going, both hurt.” When we are trying to keep going and it hurts, our thoughts tend to bend towards quitting because it must be easier. It’s not. So, don’t quit. Don’t give into the desire to end the pain, because you’ll only have to deal with a different pain, plus, you’ll have to deal with the guilt that comes from giving up. It’s time that we engage our WILL and stop engaging our fear of getting hurt. It’s risky, I know. It’s difficult, I know. I’m still a work in progress. I still fail and give into my fears and desires. But, I’m trying to exercise my WILL and be a better husband, a better father, and a better man. It starts with the little things. He gives us the grace and the power, we apply our WILL and our purpose. This is how we overcome. It’s the only way we overcome.
