From Setback to Comeback – Part 2
Last week, I introduced the idea of how we can change a setback into a comeback through looking at the story of Joshua in the Bible. Whether it’s a small interruption or a huge disappointment, we all experience setbacks in life. Yet, every setback is a battle we can ask God to help us win. As I mentioned last week, the first step toward changing a setback into a comeback is to be mindful of areas in your life that you are prone to neglect.
The second step towards changing a setback into a comeback is to be intentional.
2. Be Intentional – Don't settle for superficial change. Weed out the deep roots of sin.
Getting up is the tipping point in allowing your setback to be your comeback. We are defeated when we are knocked down and stay down.
Early in our years of ministry, my first husband, Paul, and I were spending a quiet Saturday afternoon at home when we received a phone call that forever changed our lives. We’d planned on spending the evening with our senior pastor and his family. When Paul answered the phone, I could hear the pastor say in a very stern voice, “Paul, don’t bother coming over tonight, I’d like you to turn in your job resignation.” For no Biblical or ethical reason, my husband was fired from his pastoral position. The rejection was sudden and harsh. Not only did my husband lose a job; we lost our church family.
With only my part-time day care job, I became the sole financial supporter of our little family of four. I remember wondering, “How could this happen in a church? Why was my husband fired?” I vowed that I would never forgive the people who hurt me and my family.
Months later, Paul and I were struggling. We didn’t trust Christians, and we noticed that we’d become tense and angry whenever we discussed the situation. Soon we found out the entire thing was planned to secure a place on the staff for the senior pastor’s good friend. We grew more irritable and annoyed with each other and the church. We forgot what peace felt like. We had no joy or enthusiasm about God or ministry.
Joshua did a similar thing when he got knocked down. After he got the news of the defeat at Ai, he went into mourning. He questioned God, just as I questioned God after my husband was laid off. Joshua 7:6 says that “Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there all evening.” He was confused by God, so the questions begin… “Why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites?” (Joshua 7:7). Joshua even says they would have been content on the other side of the Jordan. Really? Living in the wilderness again? I don’t think so.
In the midst of his grief and confusion, the Lord speaks to Joshua. Joshua 7:10-12 says “The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you.”
Just like for my husband and I, Joshua’s answer was to feel depressed and upset. He didn’t understand why God would allow them to be defeated so terribly. Wasn’t God on their side? Yet, Joshua went to God. And the Lord’s response to Joshua and the elders’ mourning was to get up. Staying down was actually not going to solve the issue; it was much deeper and had to be dealt with as a community.
God then tells Joshua to have the tribes come before him one at time. God instructed them to go tribe by tribe and then individual by individual—this was quite the process! Remember that although God had given Israel the command to hand over all the spoils of war to destruction, the temptation was too great for Achan. Achan took the treasures and buried them in the ground, completely out of sight. Achan thought he could hide his actions from everyone, but he couldn’t hide his sin from God.
It’s only when Achan is caught does he admit that he had stolen the coat, gold and silver. Achan was given many opportunities to confess his sin, but he remained silent. God longs for none to perish, but Achan hardened his heart. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, Achan lost sight of the character of our good, generous God and thought that true satisfaction required taking. Achan’s greed was his downfall.
But Achan is not alone in this. Our sins can have an enormous impact on our lives and the lives of others. Sin can stop what God is doing in the life of a community. We need to be careful that we don’t settle for the superficial rather than dealing with the deep roots of sin.
For my husband Paul and I, God had a plan to cut us free from our bitterness and anger. Months after my husband was laid off, we attended and learned how to “Resolve Personal and Spiritual Conflicts” at a seminar taught by Dr. Neil T. Anderson. It was there that we dealt with the roots of our bitterness and resentment and found freedom through forgiving those who didn’t deserve it.
Our ministry setback became a comeback, and we re-entered full-time pastoral ministry in a brand-new church setting the next year.
Stay tuned for the third (and final) step of how to change a setback into a comeback next week!
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.