More than conquerors

"How am I meant to be more than a conqueror when I feel like this? "
This Sunday we are going to look at our second awkward text, the one that says we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. Sometimes we feel that this text is true; other times it seems almost ridiculous. How can frail, sinful people like us be more than conquerors?
Well the first thing to point out is that the Apostle Paul doesn't simply say we are more than conquerors. He lists seven difficult situations, starting with the word 'trouble' and he says that in these things we are more than conquerors.
The Apostle Paul was one of the great missionaries of the early church. He knew what it was to be depressed, he got ill, he was let down by friends, he knew distress, pain and anguish. (It really helps to understand him if you read his letters.)  He wasn't some super human who danced his way through  life; he experienced life in the same way that we do. He came through all these things battered and bruised.
Being a Christian hurts. Get to know one and you'll understand.
But in all these things, says Paul, we are more than conquerors because nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Nothing.
Paul says it because he has found it to be true.
So this 'more than conqueror' thing isn't about dancing your way through life. It's about staying connected to the love of God when everything else seems to be falling apart.
More on Sunday ....
By the way, the first talk in this series: 'Am I really meant to feel joyful all the time?' is on the Talks page of the website.