conquerors.

I feel like so much of what I have been writing lately is serious and monotonous and bordering on dull. Maybe that is because I feel like the past couple of years my life has kind of gone from one series of challenging events to another. It is sometimes hard for me to regain my sure footing, or to snap myself out of self pity. It turns a lot of my introspection to the darker side of my feelings. When I let myself have feelings, because feelings can be very inconvenient. So in an effort to turn the tides, I have once again opened my trusty kitchen bible for inspiration as I make supper. And my efforts have largely been guided by my current favourite song, which you can listen to HERE. The passage I have been investigating is Romans 8:31-39. Again, this is not an unfamiliar passage. I just like how this can and does apply to so many more things that just our relationship in relation to Christ. Yes, it is true that nothing can separate us from Christ, but because of Christ we have been made more than conquerors of all areas of our lives. Does that mean sin can’t touch or affect us? No. But it means that there is nothing that can tie us down, keep us still, or otherwise hinder progress. I am the only thing capable of standing in my way, and even then Christ is able to help me overcome myself. Not only that, I am not subject to defeat because of any suffering or difficulty in my life. Even as I am in the midst of distress or struggle, I am a conqueror. Even as I rest in the shadows of sin, I am the victor. Even if I grapple with the consequences of poor decisions in my life, I am the winner. And that is the answer to the problem of being joyful in my suffering. I am more than a conqueror. I am greater than my circumstances, I have victory even when my heart fails, because Christ is for me. For me. So the real problem is what choice I will make. I can choose to use my effort to wriggle out from under tough times, but all that will do is make me frustrated with my failure. I can sit and point my finger and find someone else to blame for my circumstances, but I still lose in that situation. I can spend my time whining and complaining, but that will leave me with a sore throat and no friends. Or I can decide to remain under the shadow of trouble and wait for the tides to turn as they inevitably will. Because all the shadows in my life have been vanquished by Christ. Even the ones I end up sitting under. Even the ones that I am going to have to sit under. At the end of it all, I am going to be sitting in the light. I am going to be lifted out of the mire. And that is something to be happy about. That no matter what, the times that life is hard are not only a opportunity to learn, but are a chance for me to witness the miraculous work of Christ, who has and will lift me up to the place of victory. Even if, like Paul, I am made to suffer until the end of my earthly life, I will end up in a place of victory. Christ’s blood put us all on the podium for a medal. I am given the highest honour through the greatest sacrifice of someone else. I am rewarded because the merit from someone else’s actions is placed on my head. I am rescued from defeat by the hands that were pierced for me, I am able to claim victory because the perfect body of the Son was ripped and bruised and damaged for me. And not only am I given victory, I am given more. The more part is something I have a hard time understanding. How can I be more than a conqueror? What is greater than winning? I am sure that the prize of heaven and unity with the Father will make this all a little more clear, but for now I am just amazed that there is something more than just winning. I will say this, the next time I have to suffer or struggle or sit in the shadows, I am going to do it with a little more of a smile on my face, because I know that every problem (past, present, and future) has already been conquered for me in Christ’s name and by Christ’s  blood. I am  not required to figure it out on my own. I am only asked to open my heart, lean on the strength of the Father, and learn as much as I can. My job is easy compared to what was accomplished to grant me victory at so little personal expense. Puts the whole “live a life worthy” thing into greater perspective. If Christ could suffer so much and so greatly, if he could bear the brunt of all my valleys, of all the valleys of everyone ever, than surely I can muster the effort to attempt to live a life worthy of the gift I have been given. And I am not even asked to succeed, I am only asked to try. And trying means handing it over to my loving Father. So where is the hard part? If the greatest thing asked of me is humility, then what am I fighting against the Father for? There is no eternal glory in earthly victory.