Lesson 29: Be an Overcomer (4)
Read Psalm 30 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/psa.30

We looked earlier at the fact we do not have a choice in everything in our life. Some examples are:
You could not choose your parents
You could not choose your brothers and sisters, or whether you had any at all
You could not choose the country into which you were born
You could not choose the economic status of your family
You could not choose if you were born healthy or disabled
You could not choose genetic predisposition to certain physical weaknesses
You could not choose the quality or extent of your early education

We could add more to these but I pray you understand how much of your personality, who you are, and even many limitations in your life are tied up in the above things – things for which you had absolutely no choice at all and things which could have placed boundaries around your life which may never be overcome on this earth.

Do such limitations affect how much you are able to do with God and for His glory? Absolutely not. These limitations are only important as long as we fail to give God thanks for them and they become even a greater barrier through our dissatisfaction in them.


God, however, never makes a single mistake. He made you the way you are for a wonderful purpose and placed you where you are to fulfill a wonderful plan He has for your life. He can make you richer than the richest person on earth could ever be with His blessings. He can make you more successful than the most successful person you can name through your obedience to Him. He can use you, regardless of all your weaknesses more than He could use the strongest person in the world, through your consent to be used by Him in His kingdom.

The key to being this kind of overcomer lies in being thankful to God in and for all things in your life – Ephesians 5:20 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. It is easy to thank Him for the good things. It is important to thank Him for the difficult things because they are the dark canvas on which God can paint His wonderful grace – 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Just as we can never win unless there is some kind of struggle happening, so we can also never be an overcomer in our walk with Jesus Christ unless we are willing to walk with Him through the valleys of shadows (Psalm 23:4) and raging rivers (Isaiah 43:2). There is no joy which can equal the joy of victory – and the greater the battle, the greater the joy. However, the battle is never won in our strength or power or wisdom – it is only won through trusting God.

*When was a time you thought all hope was lost; then you trusted in Jesus and He brought you through?