The New Testament word “overcome” means to be victorious. I’ll never forget how our American POWs brutally held in North Vietnamese camps survived moments at a time by bringing to mind Bible verses they knew. Operation Homecoming began on February 12, 1973, and I watched on TV as the first of 591 men were released. Over the next months as their stories became known, we learned it was often God’s Word that gave them the strength to overcome. They told stories of how they’d whisper Bible verses to each other, or pass verses written on toilet paper to each other whenever they could. In fact, a sacred moment for me was to hold in my hand one of those tiny POW toilet paper Bibles during a special chapel service of our mission.
We may not have faced the torment these soldiers faced, but all of our lives come to times when there is nowhere to go but to God’s Word. Its authority and power comfort us. Keep the precious promises of the Bible in your heart so you can face and overcome life’s most difficult circumstances.