God calls us to power. He calls us to wield influence, steward resources, and make a difference. He calls us to strength and authority. He invites us to victory.
We are superheroes in The Kingdom of God. But our source of strength is not muscle. It is not positional authority. It is our faith.
Through faith we overcome the world. We do not overcome the world by our own reason, experience, or ability. We do not overcome the world by forcing other people or surrounding circumstances to conform to what we would have them be. We overcome the world through faith.
The great deceit we fall into is trying to overcome the world by mastering the world. “The world” – our circumstances, resources, etc. – is just the arena in which we make our choices. We cannot win a boxing match by redesigning the ring. We have to find the true opponent and figure out what is needed to win the fight.
We overcome by making our choices. The “fight” is between flesh and spirit. Faith is a trust in the spirit. Trusting the flesh is putting our time, energy, and hope in the fulfillment of our superficial appetites.
Faith allows us to rise above. It invites us to see things as God sees, to trust Him when our sight cannot perceive any further. This is the source of our power. Adopting this perspective emboldens us to go out and impact the circumstances we find ourselves in, influence the community around us, and steward our choices within the arenas God has placed us.
“For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.”
– 1 John 5:4