Overcomer

I've noticed that some people have this image of Christians being the people who are untouchable. They are always happy because nothing bad could ever happen to them. They could never be depressed because they have the joy of the Lord. They could never be in need because God provides. They can never have a problem to deal with because God loves them and causes them to be successful in all they do.

Well, it's true - God is and does all of those things. But being a Christian doesn't make us immune to what the world has to throw at us. Jesus tells us that we will face trials.

This false image of being a Christian puts a lot of pressure on a person who is facing a trial in their life. People feel that they have somehow messed up if they are unhappy or they have a problem area. They struggle through by themselves because they dont want to be seen as 'the bad Christian'.

So, i'll share a secret with you. One of the biggest lessons I had to learn growing up, was that sometimes, it's ok to not be ok. I used to be that person who would walk around with a smile on my face yet behind closed doors I was battleing depression. I didn't let anyone in because I didn't want to be the one who was always throwing the pity party. I wanted people to see me as the girl who's always happy and never has a complaint about anything because thats what being a Christian is all about, right? Wrong.

I wasn't going to beat depression by positive thinking and trying to cover it up. The first thing I had to do was recognise that everything was not ok. But, I would be pretty miserable if I just stopped there. The next step was to find the BUT in the situation. This is where it comes in handy to know who Jesus has made me to be. For example, everything is not ok BUT I am an overcomer, I have the Joy of the Lord. I am a child of the King - therefore, I am royalty. And the list goes on. The revelation of who we are in Christ has the power to set us free from every stronghold. You see, it is ok not to be ok aslong as you don't set up camp there. I learnt the power of confession. I learnt to speak life and truth over my life instead of feeding the negative thoughts and situation.

Sometimes we can pray and pray until the cows come home that God will change a situation in our life, but sometimes, I believe that God wants to teach us something through every situation. He doesn't want to just bail us out whenever things get hard. He wants us to learn how to overcome. 1 John 5:4 says "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world." and therefore I have chosen to believe that there is never a bad situation in my life, but simply an opporunity to overcome and step into more of who God has made me to be.