Winner Takes All

What does it mean to OVERCOME? How can I be an OVERCOMER? When will I finally get past all the struggles, temptations, difficulties and addictions I face every day? How will I ever surmount the seemingly insurmountable things that have kept me from walking the walk of an overcomer?

The ability to overcome problems and adversity is a crucial ingredient of our character that everyone of us must work to acquire. It’s not something that comes easy and often requires a price of sacrifice.

We want to do better. We long to have a full, abundant and successful life but we keep bumping into this hurdle that we can’t seem to get over. We find ourselves tripping and falling on our face every time we try to jump over it. If we try and go around it there is another one beside it that defies us! We feel lost in this vicious cycle of inadequate successes and ultimately bigger failures. We want to know the invigoration and joy of being free from this vortex of defeat. We see others who have risen above situations and obstacles in their lives and have experienced the hope and happiness of triumph...so why can’t I?

That’s a good question, “Why Can’t I?” There are many self-help books and social programs doing great things in our society but let me ask you this, when you think about "the one who overcomes," what comes to your mind? What do you envision when you hear those words?

Do you visualize the victories of skilled warriors on the field of battle? Do you think of Olympic athletes who go through rigorous training and master so many obstacles to excel at their sport? Do you consider the addict who has successfully come out on the other side of their addiction? Or maybe your mind goes to the single parent who has come through a difficult time and is now strong and doing well.

We look at these examples and say, "I can never do that" or "I have tried and tried and always failed."

While walking through the “everydayness” of our lives, it is easy to become discouraged and lose sight of the ultimate goal. We get “tunnel vision,” become short- sighted and little victories go unnoticed. We end up nearsighted focusing only on what is happening right now and make choices based on how we feel in this moment rather than having vision to see how choices today can affect victories tomorrow.

We were not placed on this earth just to maintain and get by however we can; God has a much deeper meaning and a higher calling for our lives. No matter what our history, experiences, or current situations God has a plan for us.

“Nikao” (nik-ah'-o); is the Greek word for overcome (it is where we get our word “Nike”) and it means to conquer, to subdue (literally or figuratively), to overcome, to prevail, to get the victory. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994,)

We live in a world where it is much easier to compromise than to conquer. Little things that could bring great victories in our lives are neglected or "back burnered" to deal with more pressing issues.

In the hunt for a victorious life, we find ourselves chasing rabbits down little trails and we never seem to find the illusive big game of victory we desire! We get caught up in the problems and stresses of each day and miss out on the greater spectrum of what it means to be an overcomer.

We strap on our helmet and run headlong into the wall that is standing in our way thinking this time we will finally knock it over, only to regain consciousness and realize the wall is still there and we are laying on the ground flat on our back. As a result, what do we do? We straighten our helmet, step back a little further than last time, to give us a better running start, and we hit the wall again! If you are like me, after doing this hundreds of times, you finally acquiesce and rationalize that maybe the wall is not really all that bad right where it is.

In the seemingly frazzled and battered days of our lives we pray "God help me to just survive today" with little or no thought of what it could mean in our lives to live victorious today.