Be More than Conquerors
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” - Romans 8:35, 37
Whenever difficult things happen in our lives, our impulse is to complain or simply sulk in resignation. To relieve ourselves of the pain of failure or loss, we seek somebody to blame for our circumstances.. We begin to ask ourselves all the “what if…” questions and suggest that “if only I had…” then things would have gone different.
But Paul tells us that God is absolutely sovereign over the entire narrative of our lives, from beginning to end (Rom. 8:28–30). And if that is true, then all of the difficulties we face are from his hand too. But that doesn’t make us victims of God’s plan.
God says that in Christ—the One who overcame the world (John 16:33)—we are also “more than conquerors” (overcome and conquer are the same Greek word). Whatever obstacles we face in this life are opportunities to put his overcoming on display in our lives as “more than conquerors.”
Instead of whining, complaining, blaming, or sulking, we should welcome these trials as a divinely designed circumstance to show off the power of Christ in our lives. Even if someone else is to blame, even if the situation is unjust, even if everything is stacked against us, we still must not succumb to whining and complaining. An identify of victimhood will accomplish nothing. It is the opposite of being a conqueror.
When my kids come to me fighting about something or complaining about how hard something is, I tell them, “I don’t care how unfair it seems, what are you going to do about it.” We have the Spirit of God who created the world in us. We can overcome anything.
Sometimes it is really hard. A friend once came to me telling me he was quitting a big task. He had all kinds of reasons why it wasn’t possible, why it was my fault for not supporting him more fully, if only this or that would have been done. To try to shift his mindset, I reminded him of God’s sovereignty and asked him what God wants him to see him doing in this circumstance for my friend’s good. Sadly, my friend saw that as refusing to take the blame he aimed at me, and left our conversation weak and sullen, yet to return to the calling God placed on his life.
Taking a victim identity only leads to ineffectiveness in God’s calling on your life. But a conqueror’s mindset in Christ makes you impossible to stop, no matter how small your role or big your obstacle.
Brothers and sisters, you are more than conquerors in Christ. Don’t give in to blaming or melancholy. God made you for his mission and you are unstoppable until the day he plans to call you home. Don’t give up. Show the world the power of Christ that is alive in you that keeps you joyful and hopeful in all these things.
Praying for your endurance,
Adam for your elders