Come Over

The classroom was filled with the hum of voices. Small groups of four students each were scattered around the room, each group intently playing the board game “Tell Us About…” These were Oral English students studying English as a Second Language (ESL) at a university in Beijing, China. I had been their teacher for only a few months, and the fact that I was teaching English in a classroom in China was still surreal. I stood watching them practicing their English skills.

The rules were simple. Roll the dice and move your marker the number of squares indicated on the dice. When you land on a square, tell the students in your small group about the topic detailed on the square. The prompts were simple: tell us about your pet; tell us about your room; tell us about your family. On the game board were a small number of squares saying: Question to Teacher. When a student landed on one of these squares, they were to raise their hand; I would see and come to answer whatever question they wanted to ask.

A hand went up and an eager face turned my direction. His English name was Jerry, and his English was quite good. He was playing the game with three other young men. I asked him what question he would like me to answer. I was stunned when he said, “I want to know how you come over bad things in your life.”

I took a mental step backwards remembering that I wasn’t allowed to talk about God to my students. However, I was just as quickly reminded that I was allowed to answer questions that were asked. Still feeling a bit hesitant, I said, “Are you sure you want me to answer that question?”

“Yes,” he replied quickly.

Breathing a quick prayer for help, I replied, “Well, first of all, the English word we would use is “overcome,” but I like the way you say it—come over. I’m a Christian, so when bad things happen in my life, I pray. Sometimes God removes them, and other times He gives me all I need in order to come over or overcome them.”

Back in my room that night, I found myself pondering the meaning of the word overcome. The more I thought about Jerry’s use of the words come over, the more a picture began to form in my mind of a runner facing an obstacle so large that it cannot be circumvented. The only way to get to the other side of it and proceed on is to go over it, but it’s dimensions are so enormous that there doesn’t seem to be a way.

Thus far, the greatest obstacle I have had to face in my life came at the sudden death of my husband. I was stopped dead in my tracks! Fear gripped every ounce of my being, and numbness robbed me of my ability to proceed. Intensely deep loneliness filled my days, my heart, and my mind. I was emotionally and spiritually paralyzed and could not see any way to get around or remove the barrier that death had created before me. I was bombarded by questions. What should I do? How can I survive? What will happen to me and to my children?

During these darkest days of my life, I received a phone call from a Christian Brother that changed my life. God sent him to teach me a simple yet profound way to deal with life’s difficulties. I was taught to pray and praise my way through. And so it began. During my morning quiet times with my Heavenly Father, during the myriad of decisions each day required, and during the long, lonely nights, I poured my heart out to Him sharing with Him every pain, every fear, and every worry. Then I praised Him! I praised Him for His tender mercies that were new every morning; I praised Him for His great faithfulness in providing all I needed; I praised Him for His deep and abiding love exhibited to me through the loving care of those around me; I praised Him for His grace that was sufficient for me!

Little by little, He made a way for me to “come over” this immensely difficult season of my life. He never left me alone to manage it on my own; instead, He remained with me every moment of every day.

In John 16:33, the apostle John recorded these words spoken by Jesus:

“…in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”¹

My friend, there lies the answer to Jerry’s question! It’s not we who will overcome the obstacles of this life, but it is He who has already come over them and given us victory in every trial before us! Take heart, my fellow runner, in all we face, we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us.”²

Next post: Set up again by Jerry!