I have overcome the world.

There have been times in my life when I decided that I was walking into a battle.

You know exactly what I am talking about.

You are in a situation or about to walk into a situation and you gear up don't you?

You get ready for battle, you train your heart, and you make sure you have all your gear.

I am not going to lie, there are times when I spiritually feel like I am Arnold Schwarzenegger walking in about to overtake everything because I am ready for battle.

But then I walk into the battle zone and I don't know what the heck is going on, but I am ready to fight the good fight.

Yep, I am ready to overtake this land and claim it as the Lords.

You know you have been here.

Please tell me I am not the only one thinking that I am Arnold.

There was a time when I was geared up and ready to go as I just explained.

I walked into the "battle zone" and it was a mess.

So was I.

My heart is always in the battle and when the battle zone is a mess that means I am a mess also.

Here I am, Arnold Schwarzenegger, ready to take this land but then there is my heart right in the middle.

Now what?

I came to fight but my heart is right in the middle of everything.

It doesn't matter what I do, it is going to be destroyed.

So, the next few times I see the battle I am just struggling.

What do I do when my heart is in the middle and it's already feeling the bullets?

If I begin to fight also it's going to be blown to smithereens.

Then we are REALLY going to have a mess to clean up.

So, as I sit here and think on how much I prepared for battle I realized that I thought I was gearing up with my heart inside the shield but it was in the battle zone all along. 

Now what? We continue to try and protect ourselves. 

We push through and get hurt because we forgot the most important part. 

The heart.

What we are fighting for somehow gets lost in the middle of the battle zone.

But we push on don't we?

That is what I did. 

I pushed on and did start to feel better. 

I did what I knew. 

I didn't feel like doing it.

I felt like running away but once again, my heart was still going to be left behind.

Now, we have reached they end of the battle.

It's time to leave and my heart has bullet holes and wounds all over.

I do what I always do.

I run to my Papa. 

I cry out "Father God! Please heal my heart. I am broken and I need you to heal me."

Then I hear, "Sarah, I won the battle before you even thought about walking into it."

Every hurt melted off of me.

My Papa won the battle already.

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

We walk into so many situations like we are the ones fighting.

The battle is won.

Stop trying to gear up and prepare for battle.

You are forgetting your heart.

The battle is won.

The world lost, have peace.