Overcome
There was a commercial pilot, who flew top-dressing planes, which is his great love and passion, those are small planes that are loaded with fertilizer, or even fertilizer mixed with grass seed, and then they fly very low, swooping over rugged hill country farms, and spreading their precious cargo over the land, and then with gentle rain, there is a new life and new growth on the farm. Well in this case he was flying over a large farm, just a few days’ work, and his best friend was flying and working on the farm right next door, and much to his surprise, there appeared just off his wingtip his friend, things were not quite right, he pulled back and then in behind and a little above, things were definitely not quite right, and then he noticed a very long length of high tension powerline being towed along behind him, somehow he had flown straight through high tension powerlines strung across the deep valleys, which is most dangerous, so he decided to follow him the short distance back to the airstrip to ensure that he landed safely, but not so. The damaged plane instead of rising to clear the very last hill, kept sinking lower and lower, as a critical piece of the plane lay crumpled on the ground under the severed portion of powerline, then the inevitable, ground and plane met suddenly, fire, and silence, a dear friend is gone, and a very pregnant wife will not have hubby home, ever again.
Life moved on, and for all the next day as he finished up his role of top dressing this farm, each trip out full, and on the return trip back empty, he was flying right over the crash site, and there the crumpled wreckage cried out to him and tormented him. Down the spiral he fell, diagnosis PTSD, (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), treatment meant a call to the Aviation Department, his Pilot’s License evaporated, his employer could not let him fly, even with over 10,000 hours of flying in many countries of the world and in many difficult situations, accounted for nothing now. Treatment solved lots, but he could never return to Top Dressing Pilot work, his great love, but he is now often a guest speaker at groups encouraging stressed people to speak out, to get help, but his life is still very different post witnessing his mate perish before his very eyes, and with no ability to prevent this tragedy. Overcome, but was there still more that he could have done to prevent this accident, tormented, he felt somehow responsible, what more could have been done to prevent this tragedy, overcome by fears without, and fears within.
Fears, trauma, bad thoughts, depression, all can cripple a person, Paul the Apostle was once also flooded with troubles and trials on all sides, and wrote this in 2 Corinthians 7:5-6 “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without [were] fighting’s, within [were] fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;” What if instead of PTSD, trauma, terrors and fears, in being overcome, we had the abundant and abounding and overcoming Love of God as found in Christ Jesus our Lord? What say this is what infects or ails us, overcome, overpowered by the Love of God, which is what is constantly and continually on our minds, this love and compassion pulses with every beat of our heart, every thought is of God’s undying love and compassion for us, John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
Quote; “Changed by Beholding; 2 Corinthians 3:18 ‘But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’ As the mind dwells upon Christ, the character is molded after the divine similitude. The thoughts are pervaded with a sense of His goodness, His love. We contemplate His character, and thus He is in all our thoughts. His love encloses us. If we gaze even a moment upon the sun in its meridian glory, when we turn away our eyes, the image of the sun will appear in everything upon which we look. Thus it is when we behold Jesus; everything we look upon reflects His image, the Sun of Righteousness. We cannot see anything else, or talk of anything else. His image is imprinted upon the eye of the soul, and affects every portion of our daily life, softening and subduing our whole nature. By beholding, we are conformed to the divine similitude, even the likeness of Christ. To all with whom we associate we reflect the bright and cheerful beams of His righteousness. We have become transformed in character; for heart, soul, mind, are irradiated by the reflection of Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us. Jesus Christ is everything to us–the first, the last, the best in everything. Jesus Christ, His Spirit, His character, colors everything; it is the warp and the woof, the very texture of our entire being. The words of Christ are spirit and life. We cannot, then, center our thoughts upon self; it is no more we that live, but Christ that liveth in us, and He is the hope of glory. Self is dead, but Christ is a living Saviour. If we keep our minds stayed upon Christ, He will come unto us “as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” Hosea 6:3. As the Sun of Righteousness, He will arise upon us “with healing in his wings.” Malachi 4:2. We shall “grow as the lily.” We shall “revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.” Hosea 14:5,7. By constantly relying upon Christ as our personal Saviour, we shall grow up into Him in all things who is our head. {FLB 151}
2 Corinthians 3:18 ERV “And our faces are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings more and more glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Then what has “Overcome” you? Let us be ‘Overcome’ with the Love of God as found in Christ Jesus our Lord, for nothing else really matters, or is as important.
Why is that when we are pressed, we ‘Freeze – Over Analyze,’ Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.” We need to take our burdens to ‘The Lord’ and to leave them there. Exodus 20:8 -11 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Counsellors often advise over stressed people to have “Time-Out,” to have a complete change in focus, God approves and gave Sabbath to man 24hrs of “Time-Out,” a time to be TV free, Device Free, work free, R&R, from sunset on Friday night to sunset Saturday night, no working, buying, selling, talking “Shop,” no house-work or yard-work, a day to sleep in, to talk and to fellowship, very simple meals with miniscule food preparation, rest and do not work, do not even think of work, do not even talk of work done or work that is yet to be done, banish all these thoughts, rest, family, talk, no devices, no TV shows. Talk, walk, picnic, get some sunlight and fresh air out in nature right on your doorstep, go sit out in your own back yard even, read good books, read stories to your children, read your Bible, talk to God, dump your stress and worries, if they are still lurking about on Sunday, then handle them or banish them, Family-First, get to know each other, get to know God as well. Just do try it, it is perfectly free, environmentally friendly, just take a day off, totally off, Sabbath means ‘Rest,’ you will achieve so much more when rested and rejuvenated, and you will think faster and more positive, and will overcome that which is vainly trying to overcome you.You may well be definitely failing and falling short, but you definitely have not actually succumbed and failed just yet, time to stand up, to step out, then one by one your enemies will fall at your feet; I threw in the towel, so God threw it straight back to me, and said, just wipe your face, a couple of more swings and victory is assured. Why do so many of us fold and quit, admitting defeat, when they are mere millimeters away from complete victory, why are we so easily “Overcome,” when Victory is ours, right there, just a grasp away?? Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Remember; ‘You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’ Just step up one step, just one at a time, slowly and surely, and you shall “Overcome.”
