French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “The human race is governed by its imagination.” For Bonaparte, considered a military genius, imagination enabled him to conquer most of western and central Europe. As leaders of this world through our joint inheritance with Christ, we too face many seemingly insurmountable foes. Fourth and long, down by three with four seconds left on the clock, an away match against the state champion—these obstacles pale in comparison to the matchless superiority of our Lord’s power.

We, of course cannot win every game. What would we learn by such incessant victory? We can, however, defeat the attitudes that allow us to feel loss. When we consider the wondrous works of Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be encouraged by the reality that He is a miracle worker and wants to do a miracle in us, through us, for us, and with us. The fact that we cannot, in our limited minds, conceive the awesome grandeur of what God can do ought to bring a smile to us even in the midst of defeat. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” Be confident. God is, especially when we can’t be.