What does it actually mean to live in victory as a Christian?
We know Scripture tells us that we are being transformed into Christ’s likeness “from glory to glory.” But sometimes our everyday experience feels anything but victorious.
We struggle with the same temptations. We keep returning to the same patterns. We surrender something to God, only to find another area where we’re still holding on.
So what does it take to move from partial obedience to wholehearted obedience?
I believe one of the clearest pictures of this is found in the life of King Hezekiah.
Victory Begins With Obedience
The book of 2 Kings gives us a repeated picture of kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord. Some made changes. Some removed idols. But many left the high places standing.
They dealt with some areas of idolatry while leaving others untouched.
Then Hezekiah became king.
He didn’t simply make a few improvements.
He went throughout Judah and destroyed the high places and altars. He even destroyed the bronze serpent Moses had made because the people had begun worshiping it.
He understood something important:
It isn’t enough to remove the things we don’t mind giving up while keeping the things we’re determined to hold onto.
And that’s where this becomes very personal.
Because we can do exactly the same thing.
We surrender the obvious things while quietly protecting the things we enjoy.
We obey God until obedience becomes uncomfortable.
We say yes until God asks us to surrender something we really don’t want to surrender.
And then we wonder why we’re still struggling.
What Are Your “High Places”?
Perhaps it’s an attitude you’ve justified.
A relationship you know isn’t healthy.
Bitterness you don’t want to release.
A desire for control.
Pride.
Fear.
A habit you know is pulling you away from God.
Or perhaps it’s something no one else knows about.
Whatever it is, the question isn’t whether God loves you.
He does.
The question is whether you’re willing to trust Him enough to surrender the thing He’s asking you to release.
Hezekiah couldn’t bring Judah into wholehearted obedience while leaving the high places standing.
And sometimes we can’t walk into the freedom God has for us while deliberately holding onto the very things He’s asking us to surrender.
Radical Obedience Will Cost Something
What’s particularly striking about Hezekiah’s story is that his obedience was followed by opposition.
The king of Assyria came against Judah.
Hezekiah had done what was right, yet suddenly he was facing an enormous threat.
That’s an important reminder for us.
Obedience doesn’t mean we will never face difficulty.
In fact, sometimes when we begin taking our relationship with God seriously, we become more aware of the things we need to surrender and more determined to stop making peace with sin.
But our victory doesn’t come from our ability to fight every battle ourselves.
It comes from God.
The Assyrian army was no match for Him.
And that brings us back to the question of what Christian victory really looks like.
It isn’t perfection.
It isn’t never struggling.
It isn’t earning God’s love by doing everything right.
It’s refusing to settle for partial obedience.
It’s allowing God to search our hearts and being willing to say:
“Lord, show me every high place. I want You to have all of me.”
I explore Hezekiah’s story, the connection between obedience and victory, and the “high places” we may still be holding onto much more deeply in my full article:
If you’ve been wondering why you continue struggling with an area you’ve surrendered to God before, I encourage you to read the full post.
You may discover that the question isn’t simply, “How do I get victory?”
It may be:
“Is there still a high place God is asking me to tear down?”
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Amen! Obedience is the sweet spot where we yield our desire to God’s will through our actions of “doing His Word@ by faith.