What have you overcome?

Recently, I was asked, “What did you have to overcome to get to where you are today?”  At first I was not sure what the asker was looking for, so I hesitated.  Yet, much has been overcome and is still being overcome, so I answered something like this:  First of all, I was not brought up in a Christian home, so I had to learn to seek Christ.  Much of what God has shown me was not exemplified throughout my upbringing; yet, God brought many examples into my life once I started to be open to His plan. Also we were a yelling family, so I continue to grow in not giving into this first reaction.  One more area I remember God showing me was dying to myself.  A specific example was the day I was sitting nursing my second child and toddler number one was misbehaving.  My flesh wanted to ignore her.  But when God whispered in my ear, “What are you going to do, Kim?” that is when I set my baby down on the floor and dealt with the elder's misbehavior.  That was a defining moment for me, although I do not claim to always win over my flesh.

We are overcomers!  I John 4:4 ”You, dear  children, are from God and have overcome them because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”  Although it can be easy to be discouraged by our own weakness, at these times we can remind ourselves of where we have come from and how greatly God has changed us.