True Triumph

Happy Christmas Eve! It’s crazy to think that this day is already upon us. In some ways, the last couple of months seem to have stretched out for a lifetime, but in other ways it feels like they’ve passed by so fast. A lot has changed for me in the last few months. Before September, I had never been away from home for more than three nights, and now I’ve lived on my own for almost four months!!! Although many obstacles have been present along the way, the feeling after overcoming these minor and major roadblocks is so much better than if they had not been there in the first place. It makes me think of the following quote: “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful” (-Joshua J. Marine).

Nobody wants to have “bad” things happen to them, but it seems like avoiding pain on this earth is impossible. People will always let us down and we will always let ourselves down too, despite our better intentions. However, Jesus never promised that this wouldn’t be the case. He did tell us this: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Every time we stumble along our chosen path and get up again, we may not think that we have done any overcoming whatsoever. It’s easy for me to say that things will work out eventually and they’ll make you stronger, but that sentiment,while comforting, doesn’t always feel like truth. However, the fact of the matter is that simply getting up again is overcoming, because it brings us one step closer to the final destination of our journey.

We don’t have to win by the world’s standards to have a heavenly triumph. When we move on and try once again to turn towards the light, we catch glimpses of what true victory is all about. During the stressful moments I experienced over this past semester, I saw these glimpses whenever I chose peace over worry. Merely making a decision to focus on the positive instead of on the swirling negative thoughts is a triumph for God and His kingdom.

This Christmas, I want to look for the ways in which I can “triumph,” not to bring myself glory or temporary reassurance of my own worth, but so that I can experience a tiny fragment or reflection of God’s victory over death, and by doing so, bring Him glory here on earth. The triumphs may be small but these gradual transformations of the heart add up. On Christmas, we celebrate the day that God sent love right down into our midst, in the smallest and humblest of ways. But despite Jesus’ modest beginnings, He went on to save the whole world through His enormous act of love. We can triumph every moment we choose love over hate, peace over worry, faith over fear, joy over sadness and life over death. Jesus’ birth was a heavenly triumph for all of humanity, and each day God gives us another chance to make a choice to “overcome,” with each of our prior misdemeanors forgotten.

This Christmas, take the time to reflect. What are you going to choose?