Secret of Overcomers

One great point I notice in the life of overcomers is that they are conscious, not only of the battles they have to fight, but also of victory they will record at the end of the day.

A Christian lady once walked into a law firm to see her female friend (a female lawyer). After her discussion with her friend and as she turned back to leave the law firm, I saw an inscription on the back of the red T-shirt she wore, which instantly grabbed my attention. The inscription reads: “Overcomer at Home.” 

Impressed, I commented, “I admire your T-shirt and the inscription on it. So, you are an overcomer at home? And if I may add, you are an overcomer not only at home but also everywhere. We are born to be overcomers everywhere.”

The girl then cut in: “If you can overcome at home, you can overcome everywhere.”

Wanting more explanation, I asked: “Are you then saying that the battles at home are greater than the battles outside?”

She answered, “You should know, you know better.”  

I then replied, “This is food for thought. You have given me a good point to reflect upon.”

After waving her goodbye, I did take time to reflect on the girl’s mantra: “Overcomer at Home.” Overcomer at Home! 

After a deep reflection on the girl’s mantra, I cannot but agree with her that if one can overcome at home, one can overcome anywhere.

The lifestyle of overcomers can be likened to the lifestyle of undergraduates on campus. To ensure students are well trained and well grounded, teachers teach and bombard them with assignments, tests, class works, etc which combine to form what is called in Nigeria’s parlance, Continuous Assessments. Students who take the pains to learn and to do their assignments, tests, class works, etc, always come out the better for it in their examinations.

The same thing applies to life generally. To overcome anywhere, you must first overcome at home. There is an old English proverb, “Charity begins at home.”

A child that refuses to yield to home training and discipline may never grow up to be an overcomer. A child that dodges responsibility at home and does not want to undergo the pain of hard work may never cultivate the quality of an overcomer.

Overcoming at home also implies overcoming present challenges that we face daily. Every day, we are confronted with various challenges. Some are little, some are not. These challenges are what we have to overcome before we can actually overcome bigger and future challenges.

The present challenges are meant to prepare us for bigger challenges in the future. If we can overcome present challenges, we can as well overcome future challenges.

Dear reader, how do you handle present challenges? Do you run away, dodge or surrender to challenges? Or do you stand your ground, face and confront them?  How you handle present challenges matters, because it goes a long way in determining how you deal with future challenges.

How to be an Overcomer

To be an overcomer anywhere, you must first overcome at home. You must first overcome present challenges and when you do this, you are well prepared for future challenges.

The question is: what does it take to be an overcomer. There are just three steps you can take before you can overcome at home and everywhere. These steps are:

1.    Be battle Conscious    

Every overcomer is always conscious of battles he/she has to contend with as he/she moves on in life. The awareness of battles on ground helps one to actually brace oneself up for them.

If you must be victorious in life, you must first be conscious of battles on ground – battles at home, battles of the moment, battles in the future.

When you are aware of battles around you, you won’t be taken aback when you come face to face with any. The reason people are disorganised whenever they encounter problems is that they are not consciously aware of the problems and because they are not consciously aware of the problems, they are not prepared to handle them. And because they are not prepared to handle them, they get disorganised.

There are some people who believe that having problems is abnormal. To them, one should live a trouble-free life. But sincerely speaking, can one find a person living a trouble-free life?

Every true overcomer knows that as long as one is alive, one is not immune against problems. Problems are part of life. You need to keep reminding yourself about it so that when you encounter one, you will quickly brace yourself up to deal with it.

The girl above was conscious of battles around her. For her, battles at home are battles to be conscious of, to be prepared for, and to be dealt with. Once that is done, one becomes well equipped to overcome all battles everywhere.

Dear reader, do you want to be victorious in life? Then you must remind yourself constantly that there are battles around you which may confront you anytime, any day, anywhere. When you do this, you won’t be taken unaware and you will be in a position to prepare and fight the battles.

2.  Focus on Victory

To be victorious in life, it is not enough to be battle-conscious; you must as well be victory-conscious. The difference between the overcomer and the loser is that the overcomer is battle-conscious and also focussed on victory; while the loser may or may not be battle-conscious, but he is focussed on defeat.

The loser has not fought a battle yet, but he concludes that he cannot win the battle.

Dear reader, how on earth do you think you will become an overcomer when you don’t even believe in your ability to overcome? It is belief in your ability to overcome that helps you to focus on victory. 

When your mind is set on victory, you unleash the unlimited potentials within you, which enable you to conquer every battle that you are facing at the moment.

One thing I notice in the life of victorious people is that they think, talk, and dream about victory all the time. The girl above is no doubt an overcomer. She is not only battle-conscious, she is also victory-focused. The impression on the back of her red T-shirt: “Overcomer at Home,” buttresses this fact. What it takes to be an overcomer is to be victory-focussed or victory-conscious.

3.  Fight the Battle

Overcomers are not talkers, but fighters. They don’t just talk about victory; they fight to win. You are not victorious yet until you are willing and prepared to fight the battles confronting you.

One quality I admire in overcomers is that they don’t waste time complaining and lamenting over the problems that confront them; they rise up and grapple with the problems. They fight their way through.

Dear reader, regardless of the battles confronting you, never stop fighting. Keep fighting. Victory comes to those who keep fighting. Like soldiers in the warfront who are willing to fight to the last drop of their blood, the only way to overcome is to keep fighting. 

It is settled that you will be victorious. Victory is what God has promised every one of us. But you will have to fight. Don’t be like the children of Israel in the Bible who wanted to get to the Promised Land, but were not willing to fight their way through.

The proof of your desire to get to your Promised Land is your willingness and preparedness to confront everything that is standing your way to your Promised Land.

Make up your mind today. Forget about the idea of being victorious without a fight. 

You must fight before you can win. No fight, no victory.

The secret of overcomers is laid bare in this article. To become an overcomer, you must:

a.     Be battle-conscious;

b.     Be victory-focussed; and

c.     Fight your way through to victory.

When you do those, you have the assurance that you will emerge victorious at the end of the day!