The very term lifts our spirits and seems to infuse us with a ray of hope. But there’s more to being a hyper-conqueror than just emotional hype. William Hendricksen says that if we were merely conquerors, we would have nothing to complain about. We would neutralize the forces that opposed us. We would prevail. But as more than conquerors, whatever comes against us actually ends up working in our favor. Every difficulty that challenges us finally serves to prove the love of God, from which nothing can separate us.7 When those evils lie in chaotic rubble, God’s love stands high and unfazed like an immovable monolith.

How does this work in real life? Here’s a story that gives us the answer. During his reign of terror, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini turned his war machine on Ethiopia and expelled all the Christian missionaries there. Christians everywhere began praying immediately. The answer came in two waves: first, in the protection of the expelled missionaries; and second, in reopening the doors of Ethiopia to the Gospel after the military pride of Italy lay broken in the dust and Mussolini was executed by his own countrymen.

But during the missionaries’ absence, the Word of God multiplied in Ethiopia, and the returning missionaries found a larger, stronger church than the one they left. One group, the United Presbyterian Mission, had only sixty believers when the missionaries were expelled. On their return, the sixty had grown to thirty churches with a membership of sixteen hundred! These believers were more than conquerors.8

With God’s love holding us when evils attack, we don’t merely prevail; we turn every traumatic event to our advantage. We feed on adversity and grow stronger. The greater the problem, the more we gain in wisdom, spiritual power, and maturity. That’s what it means to be a hyper-conqueror.

At the roaring approach of a towering wave, the beginning surfer lets it pass in fear. The advanced surfer sees the same wave, musters up his strength, and paddles into it. He knows the dangerous power of the wave, but he turns that power to his advantage. By skillfully cutting across the face of the wave he allows it to propel him into a thrilling adventure.

Like the inexperienced surfer, the nonbeliever encounters a looming problem and eventually gives in to despair. Life’s problems, in his worldview, are random and meaningless. They simply happen, and they have no significance beyond the damage they do. The believer encounters the same problem, but he summons up the courage to face it because he knows that within every seemingly random event, God injects a purpose. Though he may not immediately understand the purpose, he rides the wave and struggles to keep his balance because he knows that when the wave has passed, it will leave him stronger and more adept at riding greater waves in the future.