Wellbeing: An Invitation to a Flourishing LifeSample

Overcoming not Overwhelmed

We all go through seasons where it feels like everything is falling down around us. Sometimes bad things happen all at once. It’s not necessarily any one thing that sets us off, but the combined weight of everything can feel overwhelming. At times we look to the future and see no way out.

Corrie Ten Boom, a survivor of Ravensbrook concentration camp during the Second World War, famously once said, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” When life’s struggles come, it can feel like we’ve been plunged into darkness, but the reality is there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

If we focus on the darkness, we will always feel overwhelmed. We can’t visualise how we could possibly come out of it unscathed. When we focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, we know that we can make it through. We can trust that even when we’ve come to the end of ourselves, God’s strength will get us through.

The Apostle Paul had an overcoming mindset. Paul had more than his fair share of struggles. He was honest about the toll those struggles had on him, but he chose not to focus on the darkness. He focused on the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thought Point: When struggles come, do you have an overcoming or an overwhelmed mindset?

Prayer Point: Ask God to help you see how He can bring you through your present situation. Ask Him to help you focus on the end, not the current hardship.