Short & Sweet: We Get Up

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me. Micah 7:8

Feels like football weather!

is a common saying where I come from. I am a big football fan. I love everything about football season—from the excitement, the competition, the sweatshirts, the cool fall weather, to the big pot of chili bubbling on the back of the stove. Each Saturday, I celebrate when my favorite team marches onward to victory. I must admit there is a dark side to my celebrating — I rejoice when the rival team from across state loses (and loses big…in the Big House).

Satan does the same thing to us. Like a thug hidden in the shadows, he sets his evil traps and rejoices as we fall; however, his victory is short lived. Because in Christ Jesus, we get up.

Rejoice not my enemy.

In Hebrew rejoice means to leap, to be glad, to celebrate the destruction of another. Destruction—Satan’s calling card. Satan hopes our fall will destroy us, but he has forgotten God made provision for the fall in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Gethsemane. The Cross of Calvary. We get up.

When I fall.

When I fall. When you fall. God knows we will fall. He has a plan. The word fall means to fall, to fall away, to lie, to throw down. But fall also means …

to fall in the hands of

To fall in the hands of…God. We sin and fall, and He catches us. We fall into the hands of God. Where can we run from his love? If we climb to the heavens, He is there. If we make our bed in Sheol, still He finds us there. Our wandering turns out to be His leading. One more life-changing definition for the word fall; it also means to fall on one’s knees.

Ponder this for a moment.

What do we usually do when we are on our knees?

Pray.

Let’s put this all together. Satan tempts us. Because of our own desires, we are drawn away and enticed. We sin and we fall. But we fall into the hands of God and we land on our knees. We pray. We confess. We get up.

I once heard a preacher say the definition of success is getting up one more time than you fall. I think God would agree. Getting up is the key.

What knocks you down?

Is it an attitude, a habit, your sin, the sin of others?

• When you have blown it, AGAIN, by yelling at the kids when they didn’t deserve it—get up.
• When you overhear a co-worker’s nasty comment concerning your project—get up.
• When your husband complains about a meal that took hours to prepare—get up.
• When no one notices your continual sacrifices at home, at work, at school. Your Father sees you—get up.
• When you’ve given gut-level deep and your efforts fall short—get up.
• When you’ve promised you wouldn’t curse/drink/smoke/gamble/sleep around ever again; confess. repent, and get up.

Action points:

1. What do you need to give up so you can get up?
2. Now that you got up, name something you will do in place of what you gave up.
3. Pray. Find scriptures that attack your problem and encourage growth. Pray these scriptures into your situation. Meditate on them and repeat them as often as necessary. Remember change takes time.

Life is sweet. Get up!