Cathy ~ You Must Find Victory Within Yourself

This is somewhat of a long read ~ but it shows how God moves and I pray it can encourage someone.

I’ve been waiting for days, weeks, even months - waiting for something specific from God. I had told Him it would make it so much easier if He could scrawl His answer across the sky ~ or send me a letter in the mail. :) I found that the more I sought His face on this particular matter the more anxious, impatient, and even desperate I was beginning to feel.

This afternoon I had to run an errand for my mother. I drove to the store and as I walked the aisles I once again implored God for help in this very crucial matter that is uppermost in my mind. I can’t tell you exactly how "what happened" took place ~ I just know that it did. God spoke to my heart and I found myself saying out loud "Cathy, you must find victory within yourself." My mouth moved, said the words, and I believe God put them there. I had not even been thinking these words. And at that moment the oppression and loneliness that I had been feeling lifted from me. The impression was profound.

Now I can’t tell you that I knew exactly what that meant. All I knew was that God gave it to me. The lift of that heavy weight of oppression was so tangible. I knew this was my starting place ~ and I also knew where I had to go to begin searching for what God was trying to tell me. So when I got home this evening I began a word search in the Bible. I figured my work was cut out for me ~ with a term like victory ~ there had to be many citations. But surprisingly it occurs only 13 times in the Old and New Testament combined. And there were three citations that really stood out to me this evening.

The first citation is found in I Chronicles 29:11 which is King David’s "kingdom prayer." Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the Heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. This is considered one of the greatest prayers in the Scriptures. J. Vernon McGee puts it well ~ "It repudiates (refuses or denies) all human merit and declares human dependence on God. It reveals self-humiliation, confession, and dedication of self. It admits that all belongs to God." Human merit unimportant ~ dependence ~ meekness ~ confession.

The second citation is in Psalm 98:1 O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. Matthew Henry says "The Redeemer has overcome all difficulties in the way of our redemption, and was not discouraged by the services or sufferings appointed him ~ let us praise Him." Praise God - He has overcome all obstacles ~ victory indeed.

The final citation is in I John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Faith saves us and faith keeps us. J. Vernon McGee says "...and faith is the only way in which you and I will be able to overcome this world around us." This verse says that whoever is saved (whoever is born of God) will overcome this world. And it doesn’t say that we will overcome by fighting but rather by faith. God will do the fighting ~ in the same way that Joshua was to march around the walls of Jericho. His business was to believe God that the walls would fall down - his job was not to fight and knock the walls down. And so it is for us - to overcome this world by faith.

God burdened my heart ~ ‘Cathy - You must find the victory within yourself.’ Lay down any effort to fight this battle. Believe that God will fight it for you. For He knows all your infirmities and He has overcome the world.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I don't even know what the next step will be. I only know that I will overcome this situation with my faith. God is my victor.