This is a guest post from an overcomer, an encourager, and a sojourner in Christ from my church. I love her story and her truth and I know you will too!
I Am An
OVERCOMER
Through Christ Jesus My Lord
Paul writes in Romans 7:15-20 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, But I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do, no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, you may feel like you have fallen too far to get back up. Maybe you even feel God has given up on or forgotten you. The battle has been long and hard and you are tired. Tired of getting up only to fall again. You want your relationship with Christ to be what it use to be. You use to be so close and now you are not even sure where to find Him. I can tell you he is right where he has always been. Watching and waiting for you to come back down that road to Him.
There is a struggle within us that creates tension between our sinful nature and our spiritual nature. We may belong to God but we still struggle with sin. Paul speaks here to the great control sin can have over a Christian’s life.
Ephesians 6:12-”For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Our enemy is not walking talking flesh and blood. Our enemy is the hostile world, our fleshly desires, and the Devil. Satan is out to steal, kill and destroy you and your witness.
When our enemy, Satan, first started feeding lies into my Christian life it was very subtle and enticing. A lot like he did with Eve in the garden. He makes sin appear as though its “not really” sin. I was in a very dark place in life. We had just left our church home, where I had really connected with some of the girls there and was very happy. I was depressed and hurting. So what Satan used in my life at this time was my addiction to alcohol. He fed me lies daily, breaking down my defenses until I gave in. Now I knew this was wrong for me since I am an alcoholic. But was convinced I could just have one or two drinks just to calm down, just relax and forget all my problems. After all it had been at least 10 years since I had a drink. I could control it.
At first this is how it was but not for long. I fell long and hard and for several years to come the battle was on. It affected my relationship with my husband and my precious girls. My friends soon tired of my drama. I felt alone in my battle. No one could understand why I did it and continued to do it. I couldn’t understand it myself, how could I explain it to anyone else. Every time I fell I woke up crying, “Oh no God not again.” I would blame God for “letting” me fall for it again. I was embarrassed, ashamed and guilt overwhelmed me. It would take me weeks or months to start feeling in control and strong again. And then the same old lies would start filtering into my mind. Over and over and over. I was so tired, so defeated and beaten down. I even felt too ashamed to turn back to God, but in the end there was no where else I could go.
I am an alcoholic and in the past was also addicted to drugs. When I was first saved God was gracious enough to remove the addictions. Gone. No desire for either what so ever. God is always good. During my fallen time I would question God; “God you took this away once why will you not do it again?” I begged Him to please take it away. I, not God, am the one who picked it up again. I can’t explain why but sometimes God takes our battles and sometimes he leaves us to fight those battles. Sometimes we have a first round knock out, and sometimes we go round after round, getting knocked down only to have to get up again. We look in the mirror only to see the same old shame, regret and guilt we can’t seem to shake. Which just pushes us further into the recesses of darkness. We feel alone, defeated and too ashamed to face our battle and get the help we need. Romans 5:3-6 “But we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope.” I am willing to fight this continuing battle because it is making me a stronger and more compassionate person. There really IS GOOD NEWS in all of this. This battle can be won!! No, it won’t be easy. Yes, there will be set backs. But we have to keep fighting, we have to get up and move forward.
If you have fallen and feel like you can’t get up the first thing you need to do is turn immediately back to God, He is waiting. Turn back as many times as it takes, just don’t turn away. Confess your sin and weaknesses to Him and then totally recommit to Him. Fully trust him daily to get you through. James 4:7 tells us “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” He will!!! God promises!! And I can tell you the more you resist the easier it gets.
Second, find another Christian you can open up to. Be Real!! God wants you to be whole. He wants you to be able to worship him again. He wants to lift your head and lift your hands in surrender to Him. And He wants to use you to minister to others who are struggling.
It’s time we got real with one another so other struggling brothers and sisters know they are not fighting alone. Not to glorify the battle but to bring glory to God for the victory. We all still have our sinful nature and if we are not building on a firm foundation, committed and fully trusting in Christ we can easily fall. Let’s face it life can be hard and if our faith in Christ is not strong we will be tossed to and fro. When we doubt God’s ability, James 1:6, “we are like the waves of the sea blown and tossed by the wind”. We are not able to stand firm when the storms of life hit. This is the time we will turn back to where we looked for comfort in the world, which really isn’t comfort at all but bondage.
Amen! This is wonderfully honest, vulnerable, & accurate! From a fellow sister in Christ who has been in the heat of the battle, I have learned many hard, but necessary and wonderful Truths in the dark wrestling in the pit. Here are just a few: #1 is: Above all: He’s got me. His GRACE is sufficient for me–whether I’m able to praise Him, or lying face down defeated in the dirt in a pit of my own making–He is WITH me and FOR me and will NEVER leave or forsake me! All because of His great gift of unconditional love and grace found in His Son, Jesus Christ! It’s because of His blood we can stand. And in Christ, we ALREADY have the Victory! I am an Overcomer through Christ! #2: He is able to use all my struggle, pain, and suffering for His Glory and My good. He wastes nothing and redeems everything. And a beautiful truth I learned from a dear friend (Leslie Shuler), we are delivered and freed to bring others into the knowledge of that freedom (even if we are still walking that out)! I believe those who are vulnerable enough to share their story of struggle & overcoming (even in process) carry a special key and anointing to minister that same grace to others who need it, for He says we are able to “comfort with the comfort we have received”. I believe it is one of the key reasons He allows His children to experience it, so that we can turn and give Hope to those who are hopeless. We can point them to the all sufficient and sacrificial love, forgiveness, and grace of Jesus. Keep fighting the good fight sister! “Do not grow weary and lose courage (heart) in doing good, well, right, for at the proper and appointed time, you WILL reap a harvest of GOOD fruit, if you do not give up.”-Galations 6:9 I believe in the power of Christ in You! May His tender mercy bring you peace and victory. Thank you for sharing!
Amen, Jamee! Such powerful truth! I love what you said about his grace being sufficient in either place and the importance of knowing that He is for me and has not forsaken me in either place because Satan will always tell us that we’ve messed up one too many times, that we’ve blown it, and that God is disappointed in us. Thank you for the truth that God uses us through our own journey and processes, because again the enemy will tell us that our weaknesses disqualify us but God says in your weakness I AM strong! Love you dear friend!
Amen!!!!!!!!