Let’s face it, life is awkward and full of cringeworthy moments! What’s the purpose of it all, anyway?

I’ve been giving some thought lately on what it means to be the kind of overcomer that the bible encourages us to be. Why would I even want to? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we could all just go to heaven the moment we gave our hearts to Christ so we no longer have to face any challenges, trials, hardships, or embarrassing moments within this giant learning curve? After all, isn’t one of the lessons gleaned in the book of Ecclesiastes that time “erases” all things? The day-to-day grind of this life – all that we strive towards, worry about, spend our youth on; all the causes we are so passionately devoted to – have small, fleeting impact, gone sometimes in even less than a generation. Does that make all of life pointless?

It reminds me of the word dissipation. The dictionary defines the word dissipation as “a wasting by misuse”, [such as] the dissipation of a fortune”, or “mental distraction; amusement; diversion”. I can’t help but laugh when I think how much that sounds like any mindless activity, including television and social media. Ugh, and yet there we all go again!

Interestingly enough there is an additional meaning to dissipation. In terms of physics/mechanics, the dictionary goes on to define dissipation as “a process in which energy is used or lost without accomplishing useful work”. So in a nutshell, dissipation means a waste of energy and resources.

Does that describe our lives? Are we left then without hope?

NO! Romans 8:37 reminds us that in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

So there IS something to be said about being an overcomer, and that the key to discovering why it matters lies within Christ. Outside of Christ, life is as meaningless and as fleeting as Solomon describes. It’s only in Christ where life begins to take on meaning, and we see there is something beyond this fleeting world.

The root word for overcome in Greek is nikaó (or nike), and means getting the better of a struggle or fight; to prevail. Interestingly enough, the root word for conquer (as found in Romans 8:37) is hupernikaó – or far and above, more than an overcomer. In Christ we are not only overcomers, we are more than conquerors. We are victoriously breaking the chains that hold us back from life itself, both here and in eternity.

There is one more thing to being an overcomer, and that is the “want to” or desire to move forward and not get stuck in life due to circumstance. To be an overcomer implies that we have learned to look beyond the temporary things and have fixed our eyes on Jesus Himself, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). It lends itself to the eternal where we discover it is an everlasting fruit that cannot be taken away in death.

I have one last little nugget to share that I think you all may like, and it goes together with the idea of looking beyond. Did you know that every spoken prayer remains an active agent in God’s prayer bowls until He acts?

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8

The word “are” implies present tense, which is a beautiful reminder of how God is not entangled by time the way that we are. Let this sink in on you a little. Every prayer we have prayed to the glory of God, including those from generations passed, are like a fragrant incense added in golden bowls that God is able to both see and smell. What an amazing thought!