Victory or Defeat? Your choice.

This life is made up of so many different experiences. From birth to death and all that comes in between life can be a bumpy road.  People deal with these experiences in many different ways, that is what makes this world so interesting. Just as each leaf that falls from the tree is different so are we. 

As an unsaved young lady my circumstances dictated my outlook on the world. They dictated my mood and feelings about life in general. As a heathen I had no reason to see the world I lived in as anything but struggle, heartache and then death. 

Now as I sit here a saved woman on my way to Glory I see things differently. I have an outlook on life that trumps any hardships this life can bring. Obviously as Job found out, life can be extremely trying. Daily I hear of families burying their babies and I can't even begin to know what that feels like or what a great obstacle that is to overcome. I pray that I never have to deal with a loss like that and I have no idea how I would react but I know that we have a Comforter.

^{Psalm 34:18  Says:} The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

I know there are times when depression will come, hardships are guaranteed in this life and there will be a time of sadness but to walk through this life in a state of sadness and depression is not of God. I know life is difficult but to deny the comfort of the Holy Spirit and to dwell in the valley is not of God.

^{Psalm 55:22} Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

There are times of heartache but they shouldn't rule our lives. Hardships shouldn't dictate the direction of our spirit. If you are saved then the Lord dictates your life. The Lord allows and directs your life.

^{I Peter 4:19} Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

To walk a defeated life because of circumstances or past sins is in it's self sin. The world has no idea what Christ looks like, they don't know what "peace that passeth all understanding looks like".  We are to be that picture of Christ, his goodness and the comfort that only He can give so that the world will know where to find it. They will see our lives and want what we have, want whatever it is that allows us to go through pain and hardship with victory and a some in our heart.

If anyone had something to be depressed about it was the Apostle Paul. Being arrested for doing exactly what the Lord had told him and then being beaten and cast into a dank dungeon for who knows how long, Paul had reason for despair. Wow, what an example Paul was to us. He demonstrated through his trust of the Lord and his reaction to a most difficult situation just how we can have peace. We have a choice just as Paul did, we can moan and mope through the hard times or we can chose to be like Paul and let our light shine even in the darkest place. Because of Paul's reaction to this dark time in his life the guard of the prison was saved and his household. Paul went through the valley with the right spirit and God used it to enlarge the kingdom of God.

^{Acts 16:22} And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

²³ And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

²⁴ Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

²⁵ And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

²⁶ And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

²⁷ And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

²⁹ Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

³⁰ And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

I have seen people wonder in their misery. I have seen the devil get the victory day after day over their lives. He steals this precious gift of life away from us as we fall for His lies that keep us crippled in disbelief and out of the will of God for our lives.

^{John 10:10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 To live our lives in defeat when Christ as already won for us is a wasted life. There is nothing that is too big for us to handle. The Lord promised that He wouldn't put more on us than we could take. He doesn't lie. He is truthful in everything and if He said we can do all things through Him then we can. To live a sad, defeated life when He was won the victory is sin. Until we agree with God on this subject we'll never get the victory over satan and the trials he sends and we'll waste this precious gift of life that God has given to us for so short a time.

Does the lost world seek to find the peace that carries you through the storm or do they see you in the same boat as they're in being thrown to and fro by life with out a Captain? Would the world want what you have?