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Are You a Victim or a Conqueror?
by
Ann Stewart
“We are more than conquerors through him that
loved us.” (Rom. 8:37 That’s a powerful declaration! Let me ask you
again: are you the victim of circumstances beyond your control? Do you
blame others – maybe even God – for your fate? Or can you laugh despite
all the turmoil inside?
The Lord reminded me of a young girl from Ethiopia whom I saw
interviewed on Oprah a few months ago. Maybe you did, too. She was
filmed by a Canadian television correspondent during the Ethiopian
famine a number of years ago as she lay dying. She, a child of about 3
years, was a mere bag of bones, slumped limply in her mother's arms. The
doctor in the refugee camp told the reporter that she would be dead by
nightfall. But... she miraculously survived against all odds, was
sponsored to study abroad, and got to tell her amazing story to millions
thanks to the press and Oprah. She was then studying to become a nurse
as she wanted to help her people and be a witness for God.
Yes, she publicly gave God the glory for her miraculous healing and
everything that followed. She was glowing, happy, seemingly well
adjusted and self assured. That story made me sit up and exclaim: Wow,
could I be as serene and full of praise to God if I had been in her
shoes? Er... I should say barefoot, as she had been, with a constantly
gnawing, empty stomach with misery and death all around her for
agonizing years. She had the “right” to blame her circumstances, her
government, the rest of the world who stood idly by, and God for her
plight. She could also have accepted her lot and lived in desperation
with no hope, believing that it was god’s (yes, god with a small “g”)
will, according to some beliefs.
This gal (and I wish I remembered her name – but God knows her
intimately!) knew that she had a heavenly Father who would take care of
her! Whether or not she had heard of Jesus at that tender age, she had a
hunger inside of her that was even more intense than the physical
starvation that tried to take her life! The Lord rewarded that yearning,
the groaning of the Spirit, her reaching out to Him until she truly
found Him. He took her, fed her, preserved her, elevated her, and will
be using her tremendously to further His Kingdom so that many more like
her will become conquerors.
Romans 8: 35-36 asks the question: “Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Then the Apostle Paul answers in the next two verses: “Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us, for I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
My prayer is that you, too, regardless of your past or what you’re going
through right now, will be a conqueror through the awesome power of His
Love. After all, you can do all things through Christ, who strengthens
you!” (Phil. 4: 13)
About the Author:
Ann is the author of “With Wings as Eagles,” an
inspirational testimonial of overcoming major obstacles.
Get her free inspirational e-zine, worth $79:
http://www.lifealteringwords.com
To learn more about the author:
www.lifealteringwords.com/with-wings-as-eagles
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