Have you ever had a time in your life when you experienced so much pain that perhaps you didn’t know if or how you would survive?
I have. I’ve gone through times when it literally hurt to draw a breath. Times when I couldn’t pray for God to help me make it through the day, rather I prayed that He would help me make it through the next five minutes. Times when all I could pray was a whispered, “Help!”
The Bible tells us that we have an enemy who comes to kill, steal, and destroy. In those dark times I just mentioned, it certainly seemed true that he was out to kill, steal, and destroy me. He is a deceiver, an out-right liar. In those times, he whispered a lie that took root in the very depths of my being, “You’re not going to make it through this!”
The thing is, if I agreed with that statement and continued to tell myself that, I might not have survived those times. Yet the Bible tells us: “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” Philippians 4:8 (MSG)
I chose rather than to agree with the lie and to give up, to persevere and let God determine the outcome of those trials, which produced hope, and in the end, victory.
The lyrics from Mandisa’s song “Overcomer” resonate with this part of my journey: “Whatever it is you might be going through, I know he’s not gonna let it get the best of you. You’re an overcomer – stay in the fight ‘til the final round. You’re not going under ‘cause God is holding you right now. You might be down for a moment, feeling like it’s hopeless, that’s when He reminds you, you’re an overcomer!”
To a very large degree, it is a matter of perspective. What will you choose to believe and focus your mind on today?
