Overcome

There is a time for mourning.

But there is also a time for celebrating.

There are plenty of times when I need to wrestle and and battle.

But there are also plenty of times when I am overcome.

Overcome.

One word.

Two meanings.

Overcome with fear. Overcome with despair. Overcome with worry. Overcome with frustration. Overcome with self-hatred. Overcome with defeat. Overcome with failure. Overcome with pain.

There are so many dimensions to this type of overcome. A person who knows the true meaning of this category described by “overcome” can usually only nod their head in agreement. It stops our speaking. It cuts through all conversation. It is deeper and heavier than words can describe. Those phrases are only attempts at describing this realm.

And then there is the other kind of overcome.

Overcome with relief. Overcome with peace. Overcome with joy. Overcome with passion. Overcome with love.

And yet, above them all stands the solitary and undefinable:

Overcome.

I know I have felt some of the depths and heights that are described by the phrases. But I have also been overcome in a way that defies any description at all.

Do you know this realm of overcome? It cannot be elaborated. It cannot be finished with a “with”. It cannot be turned into a phrase. It is simply and utterly…overcome.

There are some experiences in my life that were so monumental, so consuming, that they stood as the peaks of human experience that I thought would not be exceeded. They were the realms of my life that words failed to describe. On some level I believed that they would stand forever as the most moving markers of being overcome… I thought that until He surpassed them all.

God’s presence alone has taken me to a realm of “overcome” that this world has never, nor will ever, take me.

I thought I knew love…

I thought I knew passion….

I thought I knew joy…

I thought I knew peace…

I thought I knew the depths of a human soul, I thought I knew the highest of heights…until He revealed Himself to me.

You cannot find it anywhere else. There is nothing that compares.

If you want to find it, seek the presence of your Maker, the Creator, the Lord of All.

When I get a glimpse of who He is, I am completely undone.

I am overcome.