Did you know that February 1st was "National Get Up Day?" No?? Me neither. But I loved reading the backstory. Apparently National Figure Skating established this day in 2017 to mark the official end of "National Skating Month" (again, who knew that was a thing?) when rinks across the country are supposed to bring communities together to experience the joys of ice skating. Now if you ever been ice skating, you know that it's both exhilarating gliding across the ice AND intimidating as you try to avoid wiping out in some terribly painful way. Let me just say from personal experience--falling down on cold, hard ice ain't no fun at all!
But you've probably already figured out the point--you've got to "get back up" after you fall. And boy, that applies literally to an awful lot of sports, doesn't it, from horseback riding, to skiing, to gymnastics. But it's also equally applicable to every single endeavor we ever confront in life--when you fall down in failure, you've got the choice: give up or get up. So here's the point of today's blog, especially in these long, dreary, often discouraging days of February: keep getting up rather than giving up. And even if no one else out there needs the reminding, well, yours truly surely does!
In a wonderful sermon yesterday on "Thirty Truths to Wisdom," our pastor touched on a proverb that I’ve always loved: “for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in calamity.” (Prov.24:16) In teaching on wisdom, he summed this up as “the righteous keep getting up." I love that! Keep getting up! "The righteous seem to go down. But they rise again. And again. And again.” And it all boils down to the fact that the righteous person enjoys “deep confidence…that the Lord has your back.” (Or as one of our beloved Bible study leaders, Kelly, always puts it: “God’s got this!” Amen!)
As someone who has fallen and messed up more times than I can shake a stick at, how this encourages me! Because of the Gospel, I know I am more greatly flawed than I’d ever dare imagine but yet also more deeply loved than I’d ever dare hope! He is a God of second…and third…and fourth chances! He calls us to come to Him like little children in humble repentance and faith, knowing that, because of Jesus, our Heavenly Abba (our Heavenly Daddy) will forgive us, dust us off, restore us, and send us back out there again to live by His grace and for His glory. He will never give up on us, and He’s got us, so we can and must simply keep “getting back up again..and again…and again!” As that age-old definition of a "saint" describes it: "A saint is someone who keeps falling down and getting up...falling down and getting up...falling down and getting up...all the way to heaven."
I shared this initially with our Bible study leaders, because let's be real: the months of January and February are just plain tough! And most of us have a tendency this time of year to start feeling a bit weary, disheartened, and defeated. (Not to mention, stinking sick and tired of cold, blah weather!) Maybe you're discouraged with your lack of progress in tackling some challenging task or with establishing some desired new habit. (Hello failed New Year's resolutions!) Maybe you're struggling with an unexpected illness or disease. Maybe you're discouraged with aspects of your family life or your parenting or your relationships. Maybe for you, it's a gnawing sense of loneliness, isolation, or inadequacy. Maybe it's regret or disappointment or exhaustion that seems to hover over and darken these sometimes dreary days of February.
Well guess what? God’s mercies are new every morning…and afternoon…and evening…and night. (Good old Lamentations 3) The Lord's faithfulness is absolutely undiminished. His love and forgiveness and grace are just as powerful, infinite and available today as they were last week or last year or 2000 years ago! And His call to, and empowering of, each one of us is just as real, true, and important today as it’s always been: we, too, can fall seven times (and seven times seventy times!), and we, too, can rise again—because we have Jesus! He is our righteousness. He is our forgiveness. He is our grace. He is our peace. He is our hope. He is our joy. And He is the One who gives us the power to rise again, get back out there, and try again!
So no matter how discouraging, exhausting, or challenging life has been for you in these doldrum weeks of January and February, will you ask God to enable you to rise again? Rise again from failure. Rise again from that sinful habit. Rise again from discouragement. Rise again from feeling inadequate. Rise again from listening to the lies of the enemy rather than the voice of Truth. Rise again from that illness or disease.
Because Jesus arose, we can, and will, rise too—not just on the last day, but daily in our lives. Ask the Lord to enable you, by His grace and for His glory, to rise up from whatever has caused you to fall. With Him, it's always too soon to give up, and it's never too late to get up!
To God be the glory.
