To Him Who ‘Overcomes’

‘Exercising the will of the overcomer’ is to prevail over something; it is to win a victory; to subdue and to succeed. Let us first consider 3 famous successful people. Benjamin Franklin dropped out of school at the age of ten because his parents, due to poverty, could only afford the first ten years of his education, yet through determined and voracious reading and learning, and by exercising the spirit of the ‘overcomer’, he became one of America’s founding fathers. Thomas Edison failed 1000 times before finally creating a light Bulb. Just consider the discouragement this man must have felt, and how much he had to fight and subdue the feeling to give up, yet in the end, he overcame and succeeded. Franklin Roosevelt developed polio and was partially paralysed at the age of 39 from the waist down, yet he became one of the most respected Presidents in history. Life’s limitations, afflictions and adversity can inspire us to strive for heights we may not have reached otherwise, especially in our walk of faith.

Whilst recently browsing my book shelf, I came across this quote from Watchman Nee: “We seldom learn anything new about God except through adversity.” Now I have personally been through much, but I have gained much, and I can confirm that there are sufferings that are neither accidental nor meaningless on our journey of faith. For every affliction comes with a message from the heart of God; every adversity carries a lesson; a new revelation, and we need to see it. Job certainly did, for he declared: “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.” Divine truth is many sided, it has more than one dimension; there are revelations of God hidden in afflictions and obstacles that require us to exercise the ‘will of the overcomer’ long enough to see what our loving Heavenly Father is up to; wants us to learn, and what insights He wants us to receive. They say that eyes that look are common, but eyes that see are rare – so what are we seeing?

“To attain strong faith is to endure strong trails” said George Mueller. To stand firm against trials is a necessity if we are going to progress in the ways of faith, for God is always looking for ways to perfect His Saints.

The Spirit’s message to all the churches in Revelations is “To Him who overcomes”. Our God is supremely interested in our spiritual growth and development, but no spiritual victory is ever won and no spiritual progress is ever made by giving way to our reluctance to exercise the will of the overcomer.

You may be going through a dark trail at the moment; an upsetting experience. But be encouraged because if our faith is real and we love God, then God is most certainly at work in our lives with a purpose for good, for we cannot have the results of the ‘Refining Process’ without the Process. So let us all hang in there and if necessary, exercise ‘the will of the overcomer’ for if we do long enough, we shall surely be victorious and bear much fruit.

Every Blessing

From Jack

Author info

Jack has been a faithful member of the Free Methodist Church for 34 years, spending many of those years in leadership. He lives in Lancashire, UK, and has recently celebrated 60 years as being a Christian! Find our more about Jack and the story behind Jack’s corner: Treasures of the Word here.

Jack Kerridge