Overcoming Covid, Overcoming Faith, Overcoming Journal

As I write this, I am doing all I can to overcome covid. What started out as a scratchy sore throat a few weeks ago has ended up as a full-on, all hands-on deck case of the Delta Variant. Over the past year, I have tried to sympathize with friends, family, and church members as they described their symptoms to me, but their descriptions finally made sense as the virus attacked my own senses. From loss of taste and smell to a compromised immune system, I have discovered this stuff to be a heavy hitter (especially in the lungs).

Like any sickness, it never comes at a good time. Our church calendar is busy, our family life is active, and my speaking schedule is completely booked. Two weeks of quarantine, the inability to speak, and an awfully slow recovery has caused me to sit down, pause and reflect on what it really means to “overcome.”

For the past four months, we have been preparing our latest resource, “The Overcomer’s Journal.” I have been writing about the besetting issues in the life of a believer that oftentimes hinders their walk with God. In the journal, we have addressed the issues of fear, doubt, stress, apathy, anxiety, grief, sorrow, etc. No matter what the struggle, they all have in common the issue of faith. Whether you are dealing with prayerlessness, worry, discontentment or some kind of sickness, at the heart of the matter is always the fundamental question: Can I trust God?

Trouble in this World

It should come to no surprise that the life of faith is full of challenges and adversities. Jesus told His disciples, “In the world, ye shall have tribulation.” Plain and simple. No sugar-coating, no false narratives, no hyped-up cheerleading speech. In the shadow of Calvary’s cross, Jesus prepared His closest followers for hard times. And for those disciples, hard times surely came. Persecution, imprisonment, exile, and even martyrdom was part of their God-given assignment in the early days of the church.

Had Jesus only said, “In the world, ye shall have tribulation,” those disciples may have been hard-pressed to live out their faith with confidence and courage, but Jesus gave a divinely sanctioned addendum to this statement, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Oh yes, it was that promise, that Holy Spirit inspired, death defying, resurrection-infused promise that would later embolden the disciples to live out their faith in resilient fashion. In their tribulation, in their suffering, in their despair, in their hardships, they had the promise of the One Who overcame death, sin, the grave, and the devil himself.

Overcoming Faith

The promise to overcome was not only experienced by Jesus Christ and those original disciples but has been granted to every child of God who has been born of faith. John the beloved said, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:14). To overcome implies that we will indeed face challenges along the way; but God, through faith, has granted us the power to live in victory regardless of the circumstance.

• Do you wrestle with feelings of failure?
• Is your mind captivated by strongholds?
• Are you lonely, afraid, doubtful?
• Have you succumbed to certain temptations?
• Does bitterness, anger, or regret abide in your heart?
• Do you ever feel like quitting?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, I assure you, you are not alone. The tension we feel in the Christian life is the pressure of living between two worlds. This world, with all its problems, pleasures, and perplexities presses into our hearts and minds with the intent to keep us bound in tribulation. We must continually remind ourselves we are not of this world. We are pilgrims and strangers, we are joint heirs with Jesus, we are soldiers and warriors, we are salt and light, we are the sheep of His pasture, we are the sons and the daughters of the most High King…nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors; and God, our Father has given us the strength to overcome in all the tribulations of this life.

I suppose the real question, then, is not “can I trust God?” but rather “How can I NOT trust God?”

From sorrow to sickness, from apathy to anger, from doubt to death, from complacency to covid, God has provided all we need in our faith to help us live in victory. Rise up today and become the overcomer God has called you to be! Get your copy of The Overcomer’s Journal today and share with friends and family. By God’s grace and through God’s strength, we can share in God’s victory!

Read the first chapter and get the introductory offer by clicking here.