God Wins

I’m inspired to write today, and I think the timing is perfect. As I expressed in last week’s post I have experienced all of the trials and tribulations of the COVID world on top of months and months of other stressors and variables in my life. As I have talked with family and friends over the last week, I have realized that I am not alone, and that some have it even worse than I right now.

So, what is my underlying theme here? What can I tell myself every day to remind myself that things are going to turn out alright? What do you need to hear that will get you through your struggles one day at a time?

God wins.

I’ve started to tell myself this every day for the last few days when I’ve felt stress, sadness, and confusion. I’ve picked back up on reading my devotional more frequently, and I’ve read some and shared scripture that I’ve found some peace in. This is a time where I’ve really started to lean on faith.

Now, I know, and have continuously addressed the gap in the world and faith. Not everyone is always going to believe, and not everyone appreciates being preached at. I’ll remind you that I originally defined ‘God’ as the sense of a universal higher power, the sense of putting your trust into something above yourself, and ‘Faith’ as belief. While I don’t get faith-rooted and preachy too often, I think it’s inevitable here in this post. It’s just the way that I feel about how things are going.

First things first, let’s talk about winners. What makes a winner? Who is a winner? When someone says ‘winner,’ what do you think of? A ‘winner’ is technically defined as someone who is successful or victorious. But, I’ll show you that it’s deeper than that.

As a society, we love winners. We root harder for them, they become pop culture figures, they become influences on what we wear and what we do. These are figures like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, and the list goes on and on. But all of these notable winners… still lose sometimes.

So why don’t we invest more time in supporting the ultimate winner? That is God. He is the one with the plans, He is the one that knows what the right result needs to be, and He is the one that ultimately wins. How do we know this? Let’s look into the Good Book.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 – “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen.'”

Romans 12:2 – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of the world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Isaiah 26:3 – “(God) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in (Him), all whose thoughts are fixed on (Him).”

Joshua 1:9 – “This is my command – be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Reading all of those should bring you peace in these times of stress and worry. We watch our favorite football team every Sunday with great intent, caring about the make or break plays, and the pivotal moments because we don’t know who will win or lose. We are all watching the election tonight and over the next few weeks with anxiety and worry about if our selected candidate will win. With life, even though we feel similar about the uncertainties ahead, we don’t need to.

The way you watch your favorite team would drastically change if you knew they are guaranteed to win before the game even started. You would have zero issue watching the election results knowing that the best, fair, honest, and most beneficial candidate to you is guaranteed to win. We would all be much more relaxed. So, when God guarantees us that he will win for us in the end through the Good Word, why do we question it so heavily? Why do we still live in worry and stress?

The answer is both a lack of patience and a lack of trust. Our patience and trust in the process of God gets too easily swept away in the societal speed of instant gratification and want to be right in the current moment. I admittedly struggle with patience. These things that I write here are things that I’ve freshly learned, heard and talked about within the last week. My writings are also coping mechanisms for me at times.

People often question their trust in God because they tend to feel that, “if there was a God, why would he allow so much hurt and darkness into the world?” Sometimes I thought this way, too. But, I recently found a great answer that I can believe in and get behind.

It read that when things are going smoothly, we feel as if we are in charge of our lives. From a first hand account, I absolutely love feeling in charge. I’m a goal-oriented planner who loves controlling my destiny and reaping the benefits of my efforts and work. So when I read this, it grabbed my attention. The passage continued to say that God sends us storms and uncertainties in all capacities to remind us in the end that we are not the ones in charge.

God puts us through hard times to make our relationship with Him stronger. It is in those moments that we must remember to give control back to Him, with the passage stating, “I use adversity to set you free from the illusion of being in control.”

That is amazing. That should make us feel so good when we remember that through life’s challenges. That ties right into the goodness of the news that we are forgiven of sin and given an eternal home.

I share this with you because we all need some good news, especially now. No matter what happens in our lives, we should be able to wake up and go to sleep knowing that we are being taken care of, and that we can give our worries to a higher power in order to be able to focus our purest energy on the positive things life has to offer.

If life has given you increased trouble, always have outlets to talk to about it. Take a step back and realize that God wins. Say it to yourself. Smile about it. Share this post with someone who may need it. He makes no mistakes, He will not disappoint us, and He will win in the end. No matter what.

Stay strong, stay positive, and stay blessed.

-B.F.