Made to Overcome
Victory in the Middle of the Struggle
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. — Romans 8:37
Not long ago, my son was learning to ride a bike. It was not a smooth process. He would try and try, and the frustration would build every time he could not get it. He wanted to quit. More than once he was ready to give up entirely and walk away from the whole thing. But every time he reached that point, I was there encouraging him to try again. Get back up. Try once more. You can do this.
And then one day, something clicked. He was riding. Steady, confident, and so proud of what he had accomplished that the frustration of every failed attempt was completely forgotten in the joy of the moment.
He was not made to stay on the ground. He was made to ride. He just had to push through long enough to find it.
Paul writes in Romans 8 with a confidence that is almost startling. He has just listed some of the most difficult things a human being can face, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, peril, the sword. These are not hypothetical struggles. These are the real and painful circumstances of a life lived in a broken world. And then he makes his declaration.
In all these things we are more than conquerors.
Not in spite of them. Not after they are over. In all these things. Right in the middle of the tribulation and the distress and the circumstances that feel like they are winning. The victory Paul describes is not something that comes after the struggle ends. It is something that belongs to the believer in the middle of it.
And the source of that victory is not willpower or resilience or the right mindset. It is through him that loved us. The conquering is not something we manufacture. It is something we receive from the One who has already overcome everything we will ever face.
There is a significant difference between surviving and overcoming. Surviving says I made it through. Overcoming says I was never meant to be defeated in the first place. Many believers have settled for a survival posture in their spiritual lives, enduring their circumstances, holding on by the thinnest thread, barely making it from one hard season to the next. And while endurance is real and honorable, it is not the ceiling of what God has made available.
You were not made to barely survive. You were made to overcome.
My son was not made to stay frustrated on the ground. He was made to ride. The falling was part of the process, but it was never the destination. Every time he got back up, he was getting closer to what he was made for.
The enemy would love nothing more than to convince you that the struggle is the final word. That the circumstance is too large, the season too long, the weight too heavy. But Romans 8 says otherwise. The One who loved you enough to give everything for you is the same One through whom you conquer. His love is not a sentiment. It is a force. And it does not leave you on the ground.
Whatever you are facing today, get back up. You were not made to stay there. You were made to overcome. The struggle is not the final word. You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you.
Recently, God placed a devotional series on my heart called The Altar Series. Throughout Scripture, whenever God's people encountered Him in a defining moment, they built an altar. A marker that said something happened here between me and God. Over eleven devotionals, we are going to explore what it looks like to build those kinds of moments in your own life today. Eleven altars. Eleven invitations to stop, encounter God, and refuse to leave unchanged. It starts in June and I hope you enjoy it!
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About Another Well Ministries
Another Well Ministries exists to help people slow down, listen deeply, and encounter God in the ordinary places of life. Through devotionals, reflections, and spiritual resources, we seek to create space for faith to be formed with honesty, grace, and hope.
To learn more about the heart of the ministry or explore additional resources, visit anotherwell.org.
Well done Jared.
Thank you for your time, effort and dedication to our Father in Heaven and for your thoughtful snd heartfelt words of encouragement. Please know that your hatd work is paying off! 🙏