Knocked Down But Not Out

Life Hacks: Part 10

By Rick Carrol

There is no success without resiliency. Every successful person has experienced many days when they felt very unsuccessful. They were knocked down, but never out. Many people pray that God would prevent every storm or hard season from entering their lives. We have this misunderstanding that if God really loved us, He would ensure that we would never have to go through rough patches in life. Yet the narrative of the Bible is the very opposite. Every successful leader for God, went through seasons of betrayal, financial hardship, imprisonment and for some, even death. They were knocked down, but never wiped out. At the end of the sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” Jesus taught that trusting in His word will not prevent storms, but gives us the ability to keeping standing when the storms come. Even if the storm hits us hard enough to knock us down momentarily, our reliance on Him should allow us to get back up. A true prayer of discipleship is not, “Lord keep the storms from my life”. A disciple prays, “Lord when the storms comes, make my feet firm on you my foundation, so that I can face everything that comes my way.”