“When it all goes south, I’m going to rise again. Just call me the comeback kid.”
- Kip Moore, “Comeback Kid”
I have worked in education for over a decade and let me tell you that teachers see the most comeback stories. It is why we do what we do: to hear from a student they get it after struggling for so long; for a student to come back and tell you where they are now and the success they have achieved. These stories inspire teachers every day. It is why we get up in the morning and go to work. It is why we stay late to prepare for the next day. It is the reason we take papers home to grade and go to the school during our breaks to work: for the comeback story.
Jesus is our greatest comeback story. His death and resurrection attest to possibility in any impossibility we perceive. The best comeback stories are those that looked impossible to overcome.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith, as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
I always love the way you can break down the word “impossible” to “I’m possible”. Anything is possible for God. We have limits and restraints, but in those limitations, God shows up and does what we cannot. Those stories show how great and powerful our God is. He reminds us over and over again that what we cannot do, He can do for us, with us, and through us. These are the moments where we must give full credit to God.
And I think it is important for us to have these moments so as to not think more of ourselves and less of Him. To believe more in our own capabilities than in what God can do through us. It is a great reminder to stay humble. I want to stay humble. Because our comeback stories are really God’s comeback stories. Their purpose is to shine a light on God’s goodness. To share God’s love with others and encourage them. It is our testimony of God in our lives.
A movie I think of as a great comeback story is The Martian. In it, we see an astronaut left for dead on Mars. He is absolutely alone and has limited resources to survive. His entire team is already months into the journey back to Earth when they discover he is still alive. And NASA is doing what they can to send supplies until help can arrive. But they keep failing. Not always their own fault, but accidents happen.
Like accidents happen in our lives. A lot of times when things just go wrong and there is no fault to lay at anyone’s feet, we just say “life happened”. And it happens a lot. Our worst of times, our “can’t get any lower than this” times, come from a mixture of our mistakes with just life happening. But that is where we meet God. It is where our comeback happens. And even if you don’t recognize God’s hand in your comeback, He is there. He is always there with us.
Back to the movie, the astronaut, takes it upon himself to grow potatoes to sustain himself. And while it's successful once, those pesky “life happens” incidents arrive on the scene. In the end though, he ends up rescued almost two years later.
And this ties right into that redo we talked about. Comebacks don’t happen overnight. They may require hard work and time to be achieved. But they do happen.
Because nothing is impossible with God. He is the Great I AM.
“There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.”
- Author Unknown
Questions and Challenges:
- What is your favorite comeback story? Why is that?
- Think of a time in your life that may be a comeback. How can you share that story, that hope with others?
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