I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up
By Shauna Leis
“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until He pleads my case and establishes my right.”
Micah 7:8-9 NIV
You are chuckling right now at the title because you, too, remember those commercials from years ago with the elderly people who had fallen in their home and could not get up. The tag line of those commercials was “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” Please do not misunderstand that the message of the commercials was not in any way comical, but the people on there were not professional actors and so, to most of us watching that commercial, it appeared very fake. Therefore, you almost dismissed the point of the commercial because of this fake appearance.
I really did not understand the point at such a young age because I could not believe that someone could really fall down and then not get up again. However, time passed by and many of my father’s church members began to age quickly and, yes, many of them began to fall. Because they were so fragile, their were times when they truly had fallen and could not get up.
How much more difficult is it when we have fallen in our spirituality and cannot get back up? There are so many times that I have found myself face first on the bathroom floor at 5:30 a.m. crying out to my heavenly Father because I have indeed fallen. Sometimes it might just be a small “slip,” and other times it is a full fledged “leap” into the slimy pit of sin. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Yes, all of us have fallen in some way, large or small, and we probably do it on a daily basis. Now, hopefully we are getting more cautious as we get “older” in our faith and do not fall as readily as we did in our “youth”.
Many years ago, my husband and I experienced a very difficult time in our marriage. Life was crazy, and we were slowly spiraling out of control and away from each other. Let me tell you that this period was one of those times in my life that I “leaped” headfirst into the pit of sin while considering leaving my husband and family in the pursuit of “happiness”. I could not imagine that a God who loved me would want me to live in such misery. Oh, was I ever mistaken as I found myself knee deep and stuck in the bottom of the slimy pit of sin that I had so readily leapt into.
However, God was faithful to hear my cry from the bottom of that pit as I recognized my fall and cried out to Him with all that I had in me to save me (and my family) from myself. Psalm 40:2 says “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Praise God that He did. At the time, I could almost visualize God reaching down with His Right Hand to lift me up out of my sin, wash me off, and restore me to a life connected to Him. He is so very good. Dear friend, have you fallen in your spiritual life and cannot get up? Or have you just slowly settled lower and lower that you now find yourself in places that you never dreamed you would go? God will answer your cry for help and will lift you up (inches or miles!) and restore you into a relationship with Him.
Pray with me: