Having a champion's confidence

Perspective is important. Really important. And it has come to my attention that Christians do not always have the proper perspective (profound, eh?). I know this because I have been guilty of this shortcoming, and because I’ve seen it in others as well.

Surely there are trends in our society that should disturb us. Scripture tells us that “there will be terrible times in the last days,” and that those who want “to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors [go] from bad to worse” (2 Timothy 3:1,12-13).* That is not a pretty picture.

Nonetheless, how shortsighted it would be for us to forget that our good God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11), and that the Lord Jesus will build His church, “and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Yes, we face challenges—sometimes tremendous challenges, but Paul’s conclusion is that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Larry Osborne, a speaker at the recent national conference of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, encouraged us on the basis of this reality to have a “champion’s confidence.” Believers have the advantage of knowing the outcome of the contest before it is finished. How compelling it is to those outside the faith when we exhibit positivity and hope rather than allow ourselves to be overcome by fixating on the temporal winds that run against us! How joyous it is to us, who are more than conquerors, not by virtue of circumstance or of ingenuity, but by virtue of the One who has conquered sin and death and granted us an eternal life that begins the moment we trust in Him.

—Beau Stanley

(Note: All Scripture quotations in this post are from the NIV 1984 version).