Being an Overcomer - Is that even a word?

I have fought my share of battles - maybe more than my share. I have struggled with temptation, bad habits, poor attitudes and even worse decisions. I have had disappointment, emotional pain, and enough discouragement to last a lifetime. I am fighting battles right now and there are ever more looming.

But my plan is to win. My objective is to overcome every obstacle in my path, with God's help. And I am not special, just determined. You can do the same. You see, God has destined us all to overcome the world. That's why He sent His Son.

Moses, a stuttering murderer, was destined to overcome. Jonah overcame an unwilling attitude. Daniel and the three Hebrew young men overcame oppression and a walk through the incinerator. Ester and David overcame oppression and each saved their nation. Peter dealt with a bad temper, Paul a thorn in his flesh, John an exile to Patmos. All overcame the trial in their way.

Even today examples abound. Joni Eareckson-Tada (read her works, please) comes readily to mind. I even know some overcomers, too, though I will use initials to keep them guessing. J battled his way back from crippling depression to continue serving his congregation. M's wife left him for another man in their church. T's wife left him for another woman. I have met scores of men and women in recovery whose spouse's just left, leaving them to deal with the emotional scars created by abandonment and the knowledge that they drove love out of their life.

What is the lesson to take away from this? Most of my life I have believed that in order to overcome, I must defeat what I struggle with. This is not so - not by a long shot. To overcome something may mean that we rid ourself of the problem. But more often than not, to overcome something we must press on in spite of the problem.

I can't imagine that I am destined to save a nation, as David or Ester were. The chances of my being exiled like John, similarly remote. But I am destined to overcome addiction. I am called upon to defeat my bad attitudes and determined to make better choices. And the power to do so is given simply by praying, and believing it is so.