Wednesday, May 22: “Victorious in the Midst of Suffering”

1 John 5: 4: “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.”

Please do not allow the careless misuse of this truth as a magic elixir to solve all one’s problems (or to excuse all one’s foibles) lessen its validity in your heart. As vv. one and five say, the one born of God is the believer in Jesus; our faith in Him is the implementation of victory. The real question is, what do we overcome? It is sad to see faith employed in an attempt to overcome petty discomfort, inconvenience, or lack of getting one’s way. For John, victory in Christ is far more than that. The suffering, grief, and various challenges of the world need not drag us down. We overcome them by faith, which works by love (Galatians 5: 6).