By Lillian B. Wolff
In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
This is Jesus speaking to us in John 16:33. He said that He had overcome the world and because He had overcome the world, He gave us as Believers the power to be an over comer. This does not shelter us from the hurts, disappointments, or trials of this life — it just enables us to conquer them with His power.
I was so intrigued by the word overcome that I looked it up in the dictionary. It means to get the better of or to gain superiority. A few synonyms were conquer, prevail, surmount. What a wonderful thought that God gives us power to gain superiority over the enemy. He enables us to conquer instead of being defeated. We shall prevail by the power of the Lord. We are not going under; we are going over.
So when you find that trouble has come your way, don’t panic, don’t fret, and don’t stew. God is on your side and if you will just focus on Him and His Word He is going to bring you out in better shape than before you went into this trial. When you are facing a trial, experiencing an attack, and you know ahead of time that Jesus has already deprived it of its ability to conqueror you, then you can endure it. You can go through it with your head up high, faith in your heart, and with joy in your step.
In ancients times they had an instrument called a tribulum. I had not heard of that before. But it was used to separate the chaff from the wheat. Tribulum is the word from which we get our word, “tribulation”. It is in the time of tribulation that our lives divide the chaff from the wheat. Trouble has a way of coming and going. Let us walk in the Lord so that we will come out a conqueror. The important thing is never to waste our pain or our troubles, big or small, but use them as stepping stones to higher ground.
“NOT ONLY SO, BUT WE ALSO REJOICE IN OUR SUFFERINGS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT SUFFERING PRODUCES PERSEVERANCE; PERSEVERANCE, CHARACTER; AND CHARACTER, HOPE. AND HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT US, BECAUSE GOD HAS POURED OUT HIS LOVE INTO OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM HE HAS GIVEN US.” Romans 5:3-5(NIV).
