I've Seen Too Many Victories to let Defeat have the Last Word!

Victory: Winning the mastery in battle over difficulties

Defeat: to destroy, nullify

I've seen too many victories to let defeat have the last word! So many times it feels like it would be so much easier to give up; to just throw in the towel and take the easy way out - even after we have had victory after victory in our life! Why is it so easy to forget those victories when we are in the midst of the storm??

I talked with a lady this past weekend who had lost her home and was selling off her many belongings. Before I had spoken with her, I imagined that she was likely feeling sad and possibly  defeated - but let me tell you that was not at all the case! Friends, that woman had victory written all over her!! Instead of whining, she was giving God the Glory; believing that He had something better in store for her. Trust me when I tell you that this woman has been through a lot PRIOR to when I saw her - a stroke, a heart attack and now the house. Despite those things, she was still giving thanks to our Savior for her victories over the illnesses and now over the house she was losing. Needless to say, she truly blessed me as she went on to say that those items and that house weren't hers to start with - instead she knew and said that everything she had belong to the Lord.

She reminded me of Job and how he lost everything he had, but in the end, he ended up with twice as much as he had before. It was such a blessing to see her winning the battle over her difficulties, when she could have so easily felt destroyed. It was a lesson to me and to the others who were around, to refuse to be discouraged or sad, and to refuse to be defeated when things seem bad.

I have seen too many victories, to let defeat have the last word! For example, I have a good friend who has had doctors tell her on four different occasions that she was going to die in less than six months. Would you believe that was at least four years ago and she’s still doing quite well today! Yours truly had three different kinds of cancer and I'm still alive, well, and able to give God the Glory! I had another friend who had a seizure while she was driving AND towing another vehicle,. When her husband woke up, she had gone across the median and had the car facing an oncoming 18 wheeler. The man who was driving the truck said that he had never seen any thing like it before - it was as if "something" had picked up the two cars and had moved them to the side of the road. My friend and her husband should have been dead, but God gave them the victory! I'm sure if you think through your life, you can think of and name a few victories yourself!

We must keep our eyes on the Lord and give thanks for everything. The battles we face are His and the victories are ours. When circumstances come to rob us of our peace - draw close to God; He knows exactly what’s happening - beginning to end!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!