Overcome

Even the most optimistic among us must admit that we live in a difficult and challenging world. Those who are less than optimistic might say we live in a dark and frightening world. It's a rapidly changing world that all of us struggle to understand at times. We have political processes that don't always seem to make sense. We have divisions that are deep and wide. We're faced with uncertainty about the future of nations and alliances, and we worry far too much about a volatile and touchy economic market. It's a mixed-up (some might say "messed up") world. And it can be frightening at times.

There are a lot of choices for how we respond to this world, but they really boil down to two basic camps. One is to give up and give in to despair. "The world is broken and will never get better. We don't have any good choices for political leaders, so why bother voting? We are all going to die anyway." And so on. Give up. Give in. Let the world win. There's nothing you or I or anyone can do anyway. But despair never moves anything forward. Despair generally only allows things to get worse.

But what if, rather than despair, we choose to listen to John's wisdom in 1 John 5? "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (v. 4-5). What if we choose the option of "overcoming"? Overcoming doesn't mean we ignore the world. Overcoming doesn't mean we are better than the world in some way. Overcoming means we live with hope beyond this world; we are assured that this world is not all there is. Those who trust in Christ for salvation know that there is a life beyond this one. There is more.

But overcoming is not just about setting our hopes on heaven, where we will live in peace and harmony "in the sweet bye and bye." Overcoming is an attitude that begins in this world. When we have hope that this is not all there is, it frees us from despair and energizes us for working with Jesus to redeem this world. Overcoming means it no longer matters what others think of us as we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, tend the sick and shelter the homeless (see Matthew 25:31-46). Overcoming means we have an ally when it comes to deciding who to vote for and we have hope beyond the stock market. Overcoming means we have a long vision and are not deterred by short-term setbacks. The world is not all there is. The stock market is not in control. And we are Christ's ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) to a broken and hurting world.

Despair or overcoming—in a desperate world, which are you? Which will you be today?