Have you ever felt like just giving up? Every year, my wife, Penny, and I take a couple of days and head to the mountains of western North Carolina. We get a cabin up in the woods and just chill. There is spotty internet available and not a lot to do, but that’s fine with us. We spend a couple of days just reading our Bibles and books that have gone unread. We pray. We talk. We get focused. It never fails that each year our trip coincides with a point in our lives where we are ready to just give up. So we go into survivor mode. We separate ourselves from our everyday lives. We go off somewhere alone and make the time to communicate with God. We regroup. We speak some and listen more. And it never fails that we return from that trip with a new perspective, usually beat into us by God during those few days away from the normal busy-ness of life.
I don’t think that we are all that unusual. I suspect that all of us hit a wall at some point in our lives, and, like us, it may be an annual thing. For others, though it is a weekly or even daily thing. They live in survivor mode. If they can only get through this time, or this challenge everything will be OK. But it isn’t. Something else pops up. Another battle that has to be fought and won. You know the people. “I know God is in control, but… I hope I make enough money to pay my bills this month. The chances of surviving this surgery are 70%. I’m probably one of the 30% who won’t make it. This day (every day) is just horrible! Nothing ever goes right for me!” You know them. They’re the ones who make everyone else want to be a Christian because their life is so miserable. I apologize for the sarcasm, but the point is they are mis-representing what Christianity is really all about.
While I think that everyone needs some time occasionally to focus, some of us live there. The thing is, I don’t think that’s how God intends for us to live. I don’t believe that God wants us all to be rich and live lives of ease, but I also don’t believe that God wants us to just survive this life so that we can have a better one when we die. I don’t think we were meant to be survivors. If I read the Bible correctly, we are not here to just survive until Jesus comes back. Jesus said that he had come so that we might have life to the full. Abundant life. A rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10) I think that we, myself included, go on the defensive sometimes when we should be playing offense. For those of you who enjoy sports, you will recognize that there is a difference between a team playing to win and one that is playing not to lose. Especially when it is your favorite team! When my team starts playing not to lose, they play it safe. They don’t take risks, they rely on their strengths. They are wanting to survive. Play out the clock. On the other hand, when my team is playing to win, they are taking risks, looking for a big play and relying on faith – hoping that they will get a break. They play harder. They want to be on offense, not on defense. They want the ball. They want to be at bat. They go to the puck instead of waiting for it to come to them.
The same is true for us in life. Sometimes we’re just playing not to lose. We go on defense, separating ourselves from community and life in order to regroup. We don’t take risks, we rely on our own strengths to get us through. We’re just playing out the clock waiting for “it” to be over. Just hoping that Jesus comes back today so that all of this will be over. When I read about the Christian life in the Bible, I don’t see survivor mode. 1 John 5:4 doesn’t say Everyone born of God survives the world. It says “Everyone born of God overcomes the world.” In Revelation 3:21 we don’t read To him who survives I will give the right to sit with me on my throne. It tells us that “To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne.” So how do we go from survivor to overcomer? We stop playing not to lose and start playing to win.
God told Paul that His strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness. In other words, instead of relying on our own strengths, we need to rely on God’s. In 2nd Kings 13:18 we read a story about Elisha. He told King Jehoash get a bow and some arrows. After demonstrating what he was doing by having the king shoot an arrow out of the window, representing victory over the kings enemies, Elisha told the king to strike the ground with the arrows. King Jehoash struck the ground three times. Elisha became angry and told the king that he would only defeat his enemy three times – once for each time that he had struck the ground with the arrows. This would not be enough to defeat the enemy. King Jehoash was playing not to lose. I heard a pastor explain recently that he thinks the reason the king only struck the ground three times was because he knew that with each victory there would be a battle.
How often do we feel like giving up because with each victory we know there will be a battle? Once we get through this period in life there will be another one right behind it. Another battle to be fought. So we play not to lose and become content with defending ourselves against our enemy. We play it safe and rely on our strengths to get us through. The thing is, we not only don’t have to live like this, we’re not supposed to. The Bible makes it clear that when faced with the challenges of life we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). We forget who we are. I would like to remind you of who you are as a child of God. You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). You have a God who supplies all of your needs (Philippians 4:19). When it comes to adversity, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. (Philippians 3:13). You are no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1). You are destined to complete what God has begun in you (Philippians 1:6). You have received a gift that is to be used to serve others (1 Peter 4:10). You don’t have to worry about anything, but instead have a peace that only God can give to see you through times of anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7). You have been given life to the full, a rich and satisfying life, more and better life than you ever dreamed of (John 10:10).
I could go on. The thing is, we are not meant to be survivors. We are designed to be overcomers. Do we get behind in the game? Sure we do. Sometimes in our humanity we just feel like giving up. It’s during those times that we need to make the decision to play to win, not just play not to lose. Get your life back, play offense. Don’t wait for victory to come to you, go to victory. Don’t rely on your own strengths to get you through, rely on God’s strength, which is the greatest when you are weakest. Be who you were created to be. You are not meant to be a survivor. You are an overcomer. Don’t play life not to lose. Start playing it to win.