Sometimes life takes different turns than we expect. We can start out with good intentions and get distracted along the way. We can end up in a place we never would have gone on our own.

And often, the fact that we didn’t mean to end up in the spot that we’re in can be discouraging. Why didn’t life turn out the way that I thought? Did I miss God’s plan for my life? Have I disappointed God with the choices I’ve made?

If this is you, I’ve got good news: It’s not too late to overcome.

Don’t miss that. The circumstances you are in can still be overcome. You’re not too far gone or too old or too sinful. You’re not doomed to a life of failure in life and before God.

How do I know? Because I’ve been reading the book of Revelation lately. And in the book, Jesus addresses seven churches that existed in the first century. All of them had difficulties. Most of them were a mess. But to each of the churches Jesus had this to say: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes…” and then He makes them a promise about what they will receive if they overcome.

Catch this. Because He makes the promise, not just to the churches who are doing well,  but to all of the churches no matter how deep the struggle. He makes the promise to churches that have failed in one or sometimes many areas. To each church, Jesus breaks in and basically says, “It’s not too late to overcome.”

You could have lost your first love. “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”

You could be enduring life-threatening suffering. “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.“

You could find yourself holding to false teaching and have been deceived. “To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.“

You could have been tolerating immorality in your life or in the lives of people around you. “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;  and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.“

You could look alive to everyone else but be dead on the inside. “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

You could be standing before an open door of the Lord’s favor. “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.“

Or…you could be lukewarm, ineffective in your calling and not really doing anything. “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.“

Friends, you could find yourself in any of these situations or disqualify yourself in a thousand other ways. But Jesus has a promise for you. If you are willing to follow Him and and lay down your life in the way that He asks, it’s not too late to overcome. You can do what He asks and die tomorrow and you would stand with Jesus as an overcomer in Heaven.

Our biggest hindrance is how hopeless we feel. But it’s not too late.

You can overcome.

“He who has an ear to hear, listen….”