Comebacks
I walked in to church last Sunday, pulled out my bulletin and noticed that thing that I hate to notice...a guest speaker. Some guest speakers are great, others...not so much.
This guy is the community group pastor at our church and he was actually good. He threw in some history lessons, some paraphrases for the really complicated Old Testament stuff, and delivered a message that everyone needs to hear!
The message was "make your comeback be greater than your setback". For those evangelicals I expect to hear a little "amen" for those more conservative types a simple nod and "mm" is good here.
I think this phrase is so powerful because it simplifies the complicated issue of grace. The reality is, we will all have setbacks, screw-ups, or huge mistakes, but we don't have to stay there, we can comeback and that comeback story may be far more powerful than the story of our setback.
I was reading a story the other day about a guy who was the bass drummer for two different rock bands in the 90's. He was fired from each of the bands just before the band hit it big. His former bands went on to make millions while he was left with a very sad story. He decided not to stay stuck in that story of failure or setback and headed down to his local recruiter's office and joined the Army. He became an Army Ranger, then became a member of the Special Forces. He fought in battles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Asia. He was honorably discharged after 12 years of service. Upon the completion of his military service he was accepted into Columbia University and used his GI Bill toward earning his BA in Philosophy. I don't know the man, I don't know his character but I can say this: I think his comeback was far greater than his setback. He may have had more money if he had worked out the rockstar thing but I do believe he is a wealthier man today.
Grace means you don't have to live in the past, you can change your direction, you can have a comeback. It is so easy to get frustrated with ourselves when we fail. It is easy to convince ourselves that we can't do it, we can't reach it, we can't move on. It takes courage and tenacity to make that change, but it also takes grace. It takes forgiving ourselves for the mistakes of the past in order to move on and make a great comeback.
Sometimes I think it is a good idea to lose weight. Ha! I'll figure out what type of plan I want to pursue and then go for it. I'll be fabulous at sticking to that plan for a few days, then I eat a piece of cake and don't make time to run. Plan failure.
Sometimes, I move on. I start over the next day.
Other times, I eat a second slice of cake.
Don't eat the second slice of cake. Start tomorrow new.
This guy is the community group pastor at our church and he was actually good. He threw in some history lessons, some paraphrases for the really complicated Old Testament stuff, and delivered a message that everyone needs to hear!
The message was "make your comeback be greater than your setback". For those evangelicals I expect to hear a little "amen" for those more conservative types a simple nod and "mm" is good here.
I think this phrase is so powerful because it simplifies the complicated issue of grace. The reality is, we will all have setbacks, screw-ups, or huge mistakes, but we don't have to stay there, we can comeback and that comeback story may be far more powerful than the story of our setback.
I was reading a story the other day about a guy who was the bass drummer for two different rock bands in the 90's. He was fired from each of the bands just before the band hit it big. His former bands went on to make millions while he was left with a very sad story. He decided not to stay stuck in that story of failure or setback and headed down to his local recruiter's office and joined the Army. He became an Army Ranger, then became a member of the Special Forces. He fought in battles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Asia. He was honorably discharged after 12 years of service. Upon the completion of his military service he was accepted into Columbia University and used his GI Bill toward earning his BA in Philosophy. I don't know the man, I don't know his character but I can say this: I think his comeback was far greater than his setback. He may have had more money if he had worked out the rockstar thing but I do believe he is a wealthier man today.
Grace means you don't have to live in the past, you can change your direction, you can have a comeback. It is so easy to get frustrated with ourselves when we fail. It is easy to convince ourselves that we can't do it, we can't reach it, we can't move on. It takes courage and tenacity to make that change, but it also takes grace. It takes forgiving ourselves for the mistakes of the past in order to move on and make a great comeback.
Sometimes I think it is a good idea to lose weight. Ha! I'll figure out what type of plan I want to pursue and then go for it. I'll be fabulous at sticking to that plan for a few days, then I eat a piece of cake and don't make time to run. Plan failure.
Sometimes, I move on. I start over the next day.
Other times, I eat a second slice of cake.
Don't eat the second slice of cake. Start tomorrow new.
Comments