These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage I have overcome the world. 

John 16:33 NASB

We are told throughout scripture that we will have troubled times. We are told that we will suffer while we are here on earth. Once we get to heaven, we are promised that our tears will be wiped away and there will be no more sorrow, no more death, no mourning, no crying, and no pain (Revelation 21:4). But for as long as we reside here on planet earth, we know that we will go through various trials and tribulations.

I have been saddened recently by hearing of the trials and tribulations that good people seem to be going through. I have even been saddened by the trials and tribulations that people that have done things that are not so good are suffering. I don’t want to see anyone suffer, but it’s simply a fact of life here on earth.

This is why we must be able to overcome. If you bing or google the term overcomer, it will bring you to the movie. There is also a song by Mandisa of the same title. Both the song and the movie are really good and I highly recommend watching the movie which features the song.

Now, how you overcome is what is most important. You see, you can try to overcome by methods of your own or you can overcome with God. I have done both in my lifetime and I can testify to you that doing it God’s way yields much better results. When we face trials and tribulations, the first thing that we usually think of is how “we” can fix it. This is a bad idea. The first thing we should do is pray about it and ask God to fix it. We should then be prepared to listen to Him and do things His way. It has been my experience that when I go off on my own and attempt to fix things that I usually make a much bigger mess of it. But, when I trust in God and turn to Him, He fixes it better than I could have imagined.

We recently studied a series in our Sunday School Bible study about suffering and pain. We studied about suffering brought on by sin such as Adam, Eve, and the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. We studied suffering brought on when someone is righteous as in the case of Job where his suffering was used to test him. We have studied the suffering of Jesus who had no sin, but suffered to pay for our sin.

Sometimes we bring suffering on ourselves by our sin and sometimes we are being tested and strengthened. It’s how we overcome our suffering that determines if we past the test and grow stronger. So today, I want to ask you this question, how do you deal with trials and tribulations? Do you run around thinking the sky is falling? I used to play “the what if game” where I would imagine the worst possible scenario happening. The problem with that game is when the worst possible scenario is something that you can’t bear because it’s too frightening and too scary. It also can really distract you from God and His plan for you.

When I finally had sense to realize that even the smallest problem was too big for me without God’s help, I just gave it all over to Him. I gave Him the big mess I had made and vowed to let Him handle everything from that point forward. And boy did He ever. He came in and broke down my mess, cleaned everything up and straightened out my crooked path. With God’s help, I became an overcomer.

I will admit that there are still times that I allow myself to imagine the worst case scenario, but they don’t last long. I am able to look back and see all the times that God did what I thought was impossible and worked everything out for my good and His glory. He wants to do the same for you, but you have to give it all over to Him. Then you too can be an overcomer.

Have a great day!