Will you be overcome or will you overcome?

Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself?

(Thomas Kempis)

Every God-born person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God. (I John 5:4-5)

It is indeed a hard fight to live as an overcomer in this world, is it not? There are all manner of temptations just lurking around every corner. If you don't see something on TV that gets your mind to consider things that bring fear into your heart, you have ample opportunity to glean some fear-invoking thing from any number of social media sites. We are inundated with all manner of seed thoughts that could take root if we aren't careful. The media attempts to spin fear with reports of shortages of all kinds. You may not even have considered 'laying up storehouses' of goods until you hear these bleak reports of doom and gloom. One thing I have had to learn over the years is when to shut my ears and eyes to some things, while remaining totally aware of others. It is not wrong to be informed, but when information begins to create fear in our hearts, we are not in a good place. Our peace has been disturbed, not in a good way that brings us closer to Jesus, but in an evil way that attempts to turn our focus inward toward what it is we can do or work out on our own. 

Sometimes the hardest enemy to fight against is ourselves. Our minds have a tendency to give into fear - it is called the fight or flight response and we all have it. We either put up our defenses and launch a good fight, or we turn tail and run. Even if we are frozen in the spot by whatever fear it is we have given ourselves over to, we are actually turning tail and running. Our faith is a powerful weapon against the enemy of our souls. If he can plant seeds of doubt that lead to a growth of unreasonable fears, he gains an inroad into our lives. We may not want to give into that fear, but as long as we continue to feed that fear with what we allow our eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds to ponder, there will be an incremental growth in our fear. The antidote to fear is trust - trust is maintained in relationship - relationship is the strongest when it is the primary focus of our lives. What relationship will you feed? Will it be the relationship you have with this world, or with Christ himself? If you choose the first, you are moving toward eventually being overcome with this world's fears and doubts. if you choose the latter, you may just be surprised by how little the world's taunts, doubts, and 'spins' actually affect the peace you have come to live within. Just sayin!