ANCHORED

Victims or Victors # I
Our Faith - The Anchor Holds

Scripture Meditation: Zechariah 4:6
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

My husband would go out at 5:00 every morning to the Employment Agency in Montreal. Someone had to earn. I was in full-time school. Each morning I would pray, “Lord, please let him find a job today”. It was day by day. Every day he didn’t work would be one for which we would not have that money at the end of the month. The rent for our little one-bedroom apartment was not much, but when you do not have anything, everything is much! I would lie in bed hopeful, praying not to hear that door open after 8:00 a.m., as if it did, that would mean he didn’t get a job for that day.

Imagine the disappointment I would experience when I would hear the door open at 9:00. The poor thing! He would come home with his head bowed, and we both would look at each other, wouldn’t say a word; but our dismayed expression said it all. But at the end of each month, our rent was always paid and we always had food. An elderly lady, (Sis. Baker) in our church saw us, two “trying” young people in our twenties. The Lord touched her heart and she would come to us, would hold each of our hands and say, “You rent pay?” We would answer “yes” in unison; then she would say, “Alright, take this and buy some grocery”, leaving folded dollar bills in our hands. Thank God for people with the gift of giving! Many years after, we found ourselves playing the role of Sis. B. Had we succumbed to the disappointments of those day, we would not be rejoicing today. By trusting God we were victorious over many situations, even those that seemed hopeless.

Victims or Victors - these are two very powerful words in the English Language with which we struggle, in essence, on a daily basis. We might not actually say the words but we act them out daily in various situations. As we struggle through life with all its highs and lows we are constantly reminded that there is a constant warring, a constant fight, internally, and yes, sometimes externally.

By definition: Victim - somebody who or something that is adversely affected by an action or circumstance; and Victor - a winner in a contest or battle. Consider for a moment the various things that have kept you from living a victorious life, whether as a child, husband, father, mother, wife, Christian, or in the other various roles you play.

For some situations in which we find ourselves, we immediately feel like victims; because instead of giving them to God we take them on to ourselves. Zechariah 4:6, however, reminds us that we will not win victories because of our own valour or ability, not by might nor by power, but by my power, saith the Lord. Rom. 6:16 serves as the key to many answers that plague us about living a victorious life. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Here Paul warns believers who think they can be victorious yet continue to live a sinful life because they are under grace. If we give ourselves to sin we will become slaves to sin and continue to live as victims; the result of which is everlasting death!

Many times, in considering whether we are victims or victors we ask ourselves questions like: Why does the devil seem so powerful in my life? As my son Scott points out to me, we give the devil too much credit. The bigger question, however, is: Whose servants are we, God’s or Devil’s? In order to be victorious what will we choose - Sin or Righteousness? We should take time to examine our thoughts, motives, morals, and actions, and earnestly strive to ensure that they are controlled by truth and righteousness and not by depravity and unrighteousness.

God will not force us to live right and be victorious. Satan will not force us to be victims. The devil has no power; he only seems powerful because so many people yield to him in their victim-filled lives.

The choice is ours! God is the only source of true power, and as such, the only source of our victory. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18). God’s people are promised authority over darkness, and given the power to proclaim the word of God throughout the world. We need to live within the means of that power in order to be victorious.

The path we choose will determine if we live our lives as victims or victors? If we choose to submit to truth and righteousness we are choosing the path to a victor’s life. Conversely, if we chose to live in sin and unrighteousness we are choosing the path to a defeated victim-like life.

There is no middle ground! We are either on God’s side – victor, or on the devil’s side – victim!
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Josh. 24:15).