By guest writer, Eden Evans.Getting a good grade on a test you’ve studied for weeks for. Finally finishing a book you’ve been slowly making your way through. Crushing a work out that at one time used to crush you. Checking off every item on your ‘to-do’ list for the day. These are a few small moments that I honestly love and would classify as my mini victories! There is nothing better than looking back and seeing your hard work truly paid off!
Victory looks different for everybody, but yet I’d argue everybody can relate to the wave of joy rushing through our body after we finally reach our desired goals. It’s amazing. It’s exciting. It is something we fight and strive for, and for good reasons! Stepping up and fighting for what you want is something incredible, courageous and ambitious!
There is a reason why our family, friends and social media continually encourage us to do so. But what about the not-so-incredible moments? Where is victory, when anxiety stops you from hanging out with your friends? Or traps you in silence as you try to communicate the feelings and thoughts you don’t even personally understand? Where is victory when the friendship you have poured so much into continually leaves you burnt and frustrated? Where is it when the paper you spent hours on gets a failing mark? But most of all where is victory when the habits and insecurities you thought you once conquered reappear back into your life?
I know for myself in moments like these, I am flooded with defeat. I can’t help but feel I will never measure up or catch up to who I want to be. It is easy to feel like we are being drowned by the emotions and questions rushing through our mind. We become embarrassed by our failure as we compare ourselves to those around us.
“Why can’t you just get over it?”
“Everybody else seems to be doing fine, what is wrong with you?”
“God, I thought you helped me overcome this already? Where are you?”
In these moments it is easy to point our fingers at God and tell Him to just fix us and the situation! Hoping that it is just that easy, but unfortunately, that is not always the case.
I don’t know about you, but I hate admitting defeat. Whether that be working towards a certain grade in a class or finding that perfect plant to add to my room. No matter what it is, I put everything on the table. But with this there is a tendency to do things on my own, forgetting to invite those around me into the process and being hesitant to ask for help when I need it. This correlates to my relationship with God as well.
I get busy and forget to invite Him into my daily routine. And when hard times come, I more often than not, try to fight on my own until I give up and finally turn to God. I cling onto my relationships, my job, my schooling because I believe I can do a great job on my own. With that, I sadly forget to keep God in the picture. This is the opposite of how it should be. Christ should be our first choice, not our last resort. Although, as I spoke to my friends and family, I found many of them struggled with the same thing.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.” John 15: 1-2 (ESV)
Although this may come off as an odd gardening metaphor, John communicates a powerful point through these verses. Initially I became nervous when I read this. “What is God going to ‘prune’ out of my life? What if it is something I really like? To be real, I like my life the way it is now, thanks!” But then I realized God is on my team (Romans 8:31) and wants me to live a good life (Jeremiah 29:11), so why am I nervous?
Because, let’s be real, the idea of surrendering control to God is terrifying!
We have sports, mental health, relationships, work, school, baggage and more that we may be able to manage on our own. But that does not mean we are meant to. God not only can be but desires to be a part of our everyday lives as well as our messes. When we invite God into our lives it is no longer about what we can do on our own, but rather what we—us and God– can do together.
God has shown me that true victory comes when we stop trying to fight the battle on our own & surrender the daily battle to Him.
Surrendering cannot only happen once, not twice, but every single day. Every single day there is something that we need to overcome. Whether that be having patience on our commute to school or courage as we face our anxiety. Whatever it is, He desires to be a part of it, and it is so much better when He is.
John continues to say…
“Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.” John 15: 4 (ESV)
God turns managing our lives into conquering them!
He desires for us to prosper, and that is possible when we remain rooted and surrendered to Him. When life comes at you ready for a fight remember you are already victorious because you are not alone. This doesn’t mean every single struggle we face will magically become easy. However, it does mean that it is possible.
I challenge you to start each day by surrendering it to God and discover what true victory feels like.
Eden is currently at MacEwan University for Social Work and is truly loving it. She works for a non-profit called Adeara Recovery Centre (go check it out 😉). In her free time Eden spoils her two baby nieces and loves finding new restaurants & coffee shops in her city! When her schedule and finances permit she loves going to the mountains too! If she’s honest… she is always looking for an excuse to get some ice cream! When it comes to sporting events, 99% of the time she is there for the hang & snacks.
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