Last week we discussed what God wants for us and specifically, how He defines victory. To recap, Garden of Eden before the Fall shows that God desires our flourishing in all ways – spiritually, physically, mentally, and relationally. However, we also see through the entire arc of scripture that God’s ultimate desire for us is that we know and commune with Him.
This is evidenced many times in scripture but is clearest through Jesus Christ. God sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for us that we might be saved and have eternal life with God in Heaven. In other words, while God desires our well-being in all things, our spiritual well-being is his highest priority. God’s definition of victory for us is to commune with Him, which we are able to do because of the Resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
This week’s study will focus on what God’s definition of victory means for us. Specifically, how should God’s definition of victory change the way we see ourselves, evaluate our lives, and pursue our goals?
Scripture:
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:25 – 33)
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9a)
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
What this means for us:
Scripture often focuses more on the posture of our hearts than on the outcomes of our lives or what we achieve.
We see this in the Old Testament many times. Many times, God continually prizes captivating the hearts of His people over their military achievements or worldly flourishing (though, sometimes God does ensure those victories too). We also see this in who God selects and favors in the Old Testament. God didn’t favor David because he was a military victor, but because He had a heart for the Lord.
This idea of our heart posture being more important than what we can do or achieve is also seen throughout the New Testament. In the Gospels, Christ calls us to seek God’s kingdom rather than concern ourselves with earthly achievements or status markers. And throughout the Epistles, we consistently hear the call to be like Christ, which requires an internal heart-change.
While many of us know these truths, we rarely truly anchor on them in our day to day lives. How often do we seek peaceful relationships, successful careers, or a padded retirement account to validate whether we’re “doing well”? But if instead, we begin to focus on the posture of our heart as a better indicator of our victory, many situations may begin to seem upside-down all of a sudden.
Consider this fictitious situation. Anna and Adam have been married for 5 years. Though their marriage started off with wedded bliss and both are Christians, they have hit a rocky season. Anna is by all measures a wonderful wife. She is kind and loving, she looks for ways to serve Adam, and prays for him and for their marriage regularly. When she errs, she repents to God and seeks forgiveness. Despite this, Adam struggles greatly with depression and anxiety – often lashing out and verbally hurting her. His start-up has been seemingly close to “hitting it big” for years and during this season he has often prioritized work over Anna. Additionally, because of the enormous pressure he faces at work, he is often caustic with Anna. This often leaves Anna feeling hurt. In this pain, she draws close to the Lord, though unfortunately she still sometimes feels slighted by her husband.
Based on God’s definition of victory we discussed last week, is Anna achieving God’s primary definition of victory?
While this may not be palatable, yes – Anna is achieving victory. In the midst of her hardship she is faithfully drawing close to the Lord. This doesn’t mean her life is perfect or that God doesn’t care about her difficult marriage. Of course, God wants to heal Adam and restore their marriage to be fully flourishing. Flourishing marriages please God! But, because we live in a broken world, because many things are outside of our control, circumstances are not always what we desire.
To reiterate, this doesn’t mean God doesn’t care about Anna’s circumstances or that He doesn’t want to heal Anna and Adam’s marriage. Though this situation is entirely fictitious, in these circumstances I would pray fervently and be expectant that because our God desires our relational flourishing, He would heal this marriage – whether through formal counseling, the support of community, or the private convictions of the Holy Spirit. The idea is not to simply accept all negative circumstances in our lives as if they don’t matter. Instead, the idea is to stop clinging to certain definitions of “victory” we often use as they are not reliable (and often are not actually in our control anyways)!
To linger on this (somewhat uncomfortable) point, we must accept how much is truly outside of our control. Often, we do the “right thing” but it does not lead to the desired outcomes. Sickness, a car accident due to someone else’s error, loss of a close friend, war… many things are outside of our control, thus allowing these things to define our victory is akin to defining our victory by the weather. While we can and should cry out to God with petitions (and celebrate that He hears us and that He is a good Father who delights to give good things to His children), we cannot wrap up our victory in how He answers us. After all, His understanding is above ours and we can’t always discern His purposes – so His allowances or decisions won’t always make sense to us.
This, in many ways, is the antithesis of the prosperity gospel. While God desires our flourishing in all things, He is most concerned with our spiritual flourishing. As we pursue obedience and spiritual closeness with Him, He offers many things – His presence, His peace, eternal life with Him – but He does not guarantee things like health, wealth, or inclusion into the community we desire. While this can be disheartening for some, it is also incredibly freeing!
This means we can stop focusing on our earthly circumstances to indicate whether we are achieving any type of success.
We can stop wearing the burden that what we achieve will define us because our achievements do not offer victory.
We can have peace when things don’t work out because we know our victory is not in the goal that has evaded us, but in drawing close to God, regardless of our circumstances.
It means we can achieve eternal victory in any and every situation we encounter – if we stop focusing on everyone around us and set our gaze on the One above us.
Reflection questions:
- What are some ways you are currently defining victory in your own life?
- Are these things outside of your control?
- Are there areas or circumstances in your life where you think you may have grasped to a certain definition of victory that you feel you may need to let go of?
- What are they?
- Is there any freedom in realizing that achieving or attaining these specific definitions of victory doesn’t actually mean you’re achieving victory?
- What might it look like in your life to let go of these definitions of victory?
- What would be hard about it – What would be freeing about it?
- Going back to the scripture for today (Matthew 6:33), are there any areas in your life you believe you are truly seeking God’s kingdom?
- What are they? Are there any areas in your life you think you are serving your own kingdom?
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