I often write articles encouraging my readers to be overcomers. I do this because I have an intense to desire to overcome rather than give in to the negative pressures in my own life. I insist that true overcoming demands serious inner strength and this strength is available through faith in Christ.
Years ago one of my "in stock" sermons involved squeezing an orange with all my strength and then asking a football player or weightlifter to come and see if they could squeeze any more juice out of the orange. Of course they could. Finally when the orange was devoid of any remnant of juice I would pose a question to the last "squeezer:" "When you squeezed this orange with all of your strength what came out?"
The man, though one time a very large woman had emptied the orange of its juice, would say, "Orange juice." I would then ask "Why?" On more than one occasion all my question received in response was a blank stare. I do not say this to in anyway demean very strong people, their response speaks for itself.
The answer to "why" is rather obvious, because oranges have orange juice inside. And what is inside is revealed when great pressure is applied.
When trouble comes people do NOT suddenly change, but what is on the inside is revealed. If we are truly walking in a deep relationship with the Lord, and the storms of life began to beat upon us, we, having the unfettered spirit of Christ working inside of us, come through the storm, battered but in good condition on the inside and because the outer man's behavior is an indicator of the inner man, we sail right on in life. We may be without former possessions, reputation, even a family member as was Job, but we sail on, experiencing an even deeper walk with the Lord.
While flying home from a special meeting, my friend and longtime Pastor, Dr. Tom Wallace talked. I knew he was going through a really tough time of trial, so I enjoyed the autopilot and asked Doc, "How are you coping with the intense attacks upon you?" He replied, "Larry, the Lord is helping me to see that when I am attacked I am to demonstrate how a Christian acts when attacked. I have suffered some loss, but the Lord enables me to demonstrate how a Christians accepts loss." At this point the radar was picking up some serious stuff, so I demonstrated how a well trained pilot avoids said storms.
If God is in charge of the events in my life, and He is, then it is mine, and yours, to trust Him. Simple. Easy. Ha.
