One of today’s popular magazines uses the slogan "Life is complicated. Simplify." The slogan doesn’t just apply as a marketing scheme to sell journalism. It applies to the struggles you and I face on a daily basis.

Sometimes we forget that life does not comply with the goal of skating through it easily. On the contrary, life is often complicated, challenging, and tough, to say the least. Take the example of Florence Griffith Joyner.

Known for her success as an Olympic athlete, Joyner appeared to be an all-around success to the casual onlooker. She started running track at the tender age of seven and went on to break records at both the high school and collegiate levels.

Later, Joyner placed second in the 1984 Olympics’ 200-meter run. Married to an Olympic triple-jump medalist Al Joyner, Florence Griffith Joyner seemed to have it all. Her success as an athlete continued in 1988 when she won three gold medals and a silver at the Seoul, Korea Olympic Games. She was dubbed "the fastest woman in the world."

Yet Joyner’s success did not come easy. Her victories were hard-won through years of setbacks and hard work. Born in the "ghetto" neighborhoods of Los Angeles, California, Joyner’s first obstacle was beyond her control–living in crime- and poverty-ridden neighborhoods.

Like many in their early 20s do, Joyner struggled to land upon a career that suited her after college. She worked as a bank teller, forfeited her running success, and gained 60 pounds.

Joyner’s road to triumph was not easy. She had many struggles to overcome.

Similar to Joyner’s challenges, the struggles you face are hard. Also likewise to Joyner, though, is your ability to rise above the struggles you face.

To do that, it’s paramount to acknowledge what the real struggle is. It is not the traffic jam on your way home, nor is it the co-worker who mocks your faith. Your struggle is not your employer or your lack of employment.

No, Ephesians 6:12 states that, as believers, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

The first step to victory is realizing that our friends, neighbors, employers, family, or government are not the sources of struggle. Our struggle is against the evil spirit-realm, which has been conquered by the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

October 2001 - By Brooke Redwine