Victories and Defeats

We all experience victories and defeats in our lives. They are inevitable.

God is working, and Satan is fighting. At Enjoying the Journey, we are grateful to see people saved and surrendering their lives to serve the Lord on a weekly basis. Our ETJ team has the privilege of working on many exciting gospel resources each month.

In the midst of it all, the spiritual warfare is intense — there is no victory without struggle. Recently, our website was targeted as part of a large-scale cyberattack across hundreds of websites. All of the issues have been resolved, and no data was lost. We are grateful for the unrelenting work of Media Lifeline for providing their technical expertise. But it was a reminder of the much larger, spiritual battle God’s people are engaged in.

We cannot always control when we will experience them, but we can control how we handle our victories and defeats.

Victory in One Battle Does Not Mean the End of the War

It is often after victories that the greater defeat comes. We win — We rejoice — We let down our guard. The problem is that Satan never lets up his attack. Call it a lack of vigilance, a false sense of your own strength. There are many reasons. Be sure of this: If God is blessing, the devil is fighting!  He always opposes what God ordains.

The story is told of a young man in Napoleon’s army who had given a valiant effort in battle. Others recommended him immediately for promotion. The experienced general quietly asked, “What did he do the day after the victory?” 

The Christian life is always present tense.  There is no place to stop.

The Battle Continues After Victory

It is after the victory that the real battle begins. This is the time that is the true test of a man’s integrity.

• It was after the Spirit descended on Christ at the baptism that the devil brought his most intense temptation.
• It was after the day of Pentecost that persecution arose.
• It was after great victories that King David committed adultery and murder.
• It was after a demonstration of God’s Spirit that Samson responded in the flesh.

Yes, after is a dangerous time.

The Lord Jesus experienced one of the greatest days of His ministry in Mark 1. Some Bible teachers have referred to this day as His “busy day in Capernaum.” He emerges from the wilderness temptation in victory. Called His first disciples. Taught in the synagogue. Delivered a demon-possessed man. Raised Peter’s mother-in-law from her sickbed. Spent the evening healing sick and demon-possessed people lined up outside His door. What a day!

Time to rest? To bask in the results? To rejoice? The crowds love Him! Success has come! In the words of Peter, “All men seek for thee.” Who wouldn’t love such victory?

“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).

The Lord knew something that we often forget — victory is never the end. It is the beginning.

Learn to Use Victory

Oswald Chambers wrote along these same lines that God’s people must learn to “use victory.” Not just enjoy it. No, it is at the moment of victory that greater success or greatest failure lingers! He wrote, “Where do we place the night of prayer and the dawn of intercession in our soul’s calendar? Do we place it after a day of marvelous success in the work for God? If we do not, our souls are in peril.”

Dr. George Adam Smith told of climbing to the top of a high mountain peak. His guide moved back to allow him the first view of the breathtaking vista. Taken with the emotion of the experience, Smith began to jump up and down. Immediately, the wise guide cried out, “Down on your knees! It isn’t safe standing up there.” And so it is with life. The highest experiences are some of the most dangerous.

Listen to your Guide: “Down on your knees! It isn’t safe standing up there.” Thank God for the victory, but stay very close to Him. Victory is not an event. It is Christ. If you are enjoying victory right now, thank the Lord. But do not forget that the war is still raging. Look to the Lord and look out for the enemy. Every day counts.

How to Handle What Seems to Be Defeats

Several years ago, a dear friend said to me, “You are the kind of person who has a hard time if things don’t turn out the way you think they should.” He was right. The Holy Spirit has brought those words to my mind many times through the years. There are moments in all of our lives and ministries when things are not coming together as we had hoped.

I recall in one day hearing of two different men whose lives had taken turns that they never would have imagined. Seen only through the eyes of our understanding, this can produce tremendous frustration. But viewed through the eyes of faith, it is possible to have victory!  Disappointment comes when our purposes are not in line with God’s. These are what some would refer to as defeats. But are they really defeats?

Example 1: The Disciples

The disciples grew disillusioned when their Master did not set up His earthly kingdom as they thought He would. Little did they realize that He had much bigger (and better!) plans. John the Baptist even questioned if Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 11:3). He had faithfully preached that the Christ who would come after him would bring judgment (Matthew 3:12). Yet Christ came preaching love. Sometimes we have the wrong idea of how or when God will accomplish His plans.

The Lord Jesus sent word back to John of all that was being done and concluded with this statement, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me“(Matthew 11:6). Are you offended because God is working His plan instead of yours? Has your inability to understand or explain God’s way blown you off course? The blessed life, the happy life, is the life of faith. This is the constant lesson Christ is trying to teach us.

Example 2: The Three Hebrews in Babylon

Ask Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They didn’t want to go into a fiery furnace. They certainly could not see how the story would end! Yet they declared, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us…But if not be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). Recall that sometimes God uses opposition to demonstrate His power in an amazing victory.

Example 3: Esther

Let Esther testify. She had no assurance that she would be given favor in the sight of the king. She simply trusted that God’s choice for her would be best. Her last words were, “If I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

Trust God with the Outcome

This “if” is the if of faith, not the if of doubt. It is a word of total abandonment to God. If things don’t turn out the way I hope, if life does not come together according to my plan, if everything takes a strange twist — God is still in control and I can trust Him. Faith does not say, “Everything is going to be OK!” Instead it declares, “If everything does not turn out OK that is OK with me.  The Lord knows best.”

So, what if it does not turn out your way? What if you experience defeat rather than victory? Rest in the reality that as long as God is getting His way it is always for our good (Romans 8:28). You may not see it now, but even in defeats, God makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

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About Scott Pauley