If you know me, you know that I am a huge sports fan. Unfortunately this has caused me more pain than joy, but I’m a dedicated fan so I am not giving up on my teams. About the only thing good the Miami Dolphins did this year was the “Miracle in Miami” when they beat the Patriots on a last second Hail Mary/Lateral play. NC State is so known for last second heroics they are known as the “Cardiac Pack.” One day I may have to get a prescription for blood pressure medicine because of the stress watching an NC State game can bring.
Just this season in basketball, there have been multiple games that the Pack were down double digits just to climb back and barely win in the end. One game we had a double-digit lead, gave it up, and then got it back just in time. Against Clemson, we literally had a last second buzzer beater shot go in for the win. This is something that I have come to expect as a NC State fan. It doesn’t matter the sport. Just scraping by is very common.
This week I was reading Romans and got to 8:38 which says, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Prior to this verse Paul talks about how nothing that we have done can separate us from God’s love. After that verse, he talks about how nothing of this world can separate us from God’s love. In verse 38, he says that overwhelming victory is ours through Christ.
The word overwhelming stood out to me. I’ve known that God has given me the victory. Look at Revelations right? We win in the end. But there are so many times where I live like I am just scraping by. Sure I may be victorious, but it is a knock-down drag-out fight to get there. Honestly, there are days when I’m not walking in victory. There are days I’m defeated. In my last post, I told you how setting up Angela’s website took way longer than I expected.
I did not feel victorious at all after spending five and a half hours getting nowhere on her site. That seems like a weird example, but that spilled into the rest of my day. My defeat didn’t end when we left the coffee shop. I carried it with me for the rest of the day. I carried it into the next day.
I didn’t feel victorious but that isn’t what Romans 8:38 tells us. It doesn’t tell us that we are barely going to get by (or be defeated). It tells us that we have the overwhelming victory. No matter what may happen or what may come against us, we are overwhelmingly victorious. There isn’t a thing that can separate us from God’s love. I am not going to barely get by. God has so much more for me than that. He has abundant life for me (John 10:10). He can do exceedingly beyond what I ask or imagine (Eph 3:20).
I’m now on a path to walk in the overwhelming victory. I’m not going to scrape by anymore.
until next time…