He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. – Revelation 21:7, KJV

One of the things I do in my “spare time” is teach real estate licensing classes. In one recent class, several of the students expressed concern about their ability to pass the state licensing exam. There are usually one or two people in every class who express this concern, but this class had a higher number of worried students, prompting me to tell them the following:

I’ve been around real estate for many years now, and I can tell you for a fact that the people successful in this business aren’t successful because they are great test takers. They are successful because they are persistent in overcoming adversity to pursue their goals. Some of the most successful people you will encounter in the field will be people who struggled with the licensing exam, but they worked hard to overcome the test, and they work hard to win in the workplace.

If you do fail the licensing exam, so what? Are you going to let that defeat you? Simply decide to prepare for it and take it again and again until you conquer it. Stop worrying about the test. Start focusing on overcoming it. Set your sites on the prize, and then go get it!

The reason persistence works is because God made it to work. God is the creator of persistence, as He is the creator of all things. He is also the rewarder of persistence.

The word “overcometh” occurs ten times in the King James Version of the New Testament. Eight of those times are found in Revelation. In each of the times “overcometh” is used in Revelation, God rewards His overcomers with gifts. Those gifts include:

• The fruit of the tree of life (Revelation 2:7)
• Salvation from the second death (Revelation 2:11)
• Hidden manna and a new name (Revelation 2:17)
• Power over nations (Revelation 2:26)
• White raiment (Revelation 3:5)
• The honor of being made a pillar of the temple (Revelation 3:12)
• The honor of sitting with Jesus on His throne (Revelation 3:21)
• The inheritance of God (Revelation 21:7)

We all face obstacles in life. That’s just part of the package. The difference between success and failure in life will be our ability to overcome those obstacles. Lest we foolishly think we can overcome on our own, however, let us be reminded of 1 John 5:5 (AMP):

Who is it that is victorious over [that conquers] the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact]?

The decision to overcome is ours. The ability to overcome is God’s.

Facing struggles right now? If so, decide to persist, but make sure you rely on God’s power, not yours, to overcome. If you rely on your power, you will not succeed. If you rely on God’s, you are assured victory.