Fall Forward, Spring Back – Part 2

By Grant Gaines

Last week we started looking at the common Daylight Savings Time expression of “Fall Back, Spring Forward” and how it related to our Christian walks. As you’ll remember, the world often wants Christians to “fall back” into complacency and passivity rather than standing up for what is right. God on the other hand pleads with His children to “fall forward” by being an influential light in a dying and darkened world. Therefore, the expression God would love to describe His children is not “Fall Back, Spring Forward,” but rather “Fall Forward, Spring Back.”

Today I want to explore the second half of this expression – “spring back.” To help me explain this idea of springing back, let me tell you about the 1993 Buffalo Bills.

In 1993, the Buffalo Bills traveled to Houston, Texas where they were set to play the Houston Oilers in the AFC Championship Game for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. However, these Super Bowl dreams quickly faded for the Bills as they found themselves down by 32 points early in the second half. They were quickly running out of time and out of hope.

But as the old saying goes, “It ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings’.” And while the “fat lady” may have been warming up her voice for much of the first half of the ball game, she never got the chance to belt out her melody as the Bills mounted the largest comeback in NFL playoff history by ripping off 35 unanswered points and defeating the Oilers 41-38 in overtime.

This isn’t a great game because of the final score but rather because of how the Bills achieved this final score – they had to spring back after being knocked down. That’s also what makes Rocky such a great movie. Not that he was a great boxer and certainly not because he was a handsome man, but rather because he kept springing back after being knocked down.

Of all the characters in the Bible, no one was knocked down more than the apostle Paul. Paul even wrote about all of these troubles in his second letter to the church in Corinth when he said, “…I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27, NIV).

Needless to say, Paul knew what it meant to get knocked down. But knowing that he was going to get knocked down from time to time in life is not what made Paul special. What made Paul so noteworthy is how he responded when he got knocked down – he always got back up. Paul lived out Proverbs 24:16 (NIV) better than anyone – “though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again….” And of the many occasions that we could look at throughout Paul’s story, Paul’s “spring back mentality” in Acts 14 can’t be overlooked.

As this particular story in Acts 14 begins, Paul and his traveling companion Barnabas strolled into Lystra where they immediately saw a man who had been paralyzed from birth sitting in front of them. Knowing that the Lord had entrusted them with a powerful message of hope and the miraculous gift of healing, Paul looked at the crippled man and said, “Stand up to your feet!” (Acts 14:9, NIV).

The crowd who had gathered around Paul was so amazed by this incredible feat that they mistakenly thought that Paul was the Greek god Zeus and tried to offer animal sacrifices on his behalf. Both Paul and Barnabas profusely begged the crowd to listen to them as they explained that it was not by their own power that this miracle happened but rather by the almighty hand of the living God who desired to have a personal relationship with every single one of them.

But just as Paul was wrapping up his “alter call” after sharing the Gospel, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium who strongly disliked Paul entered the scene. And when I say “strongly disliked” Paul, I’m understating how much they hated Paul so let me try to put it this way – these men hated Paul for preaching the Gospel so much that they walked roughly 50 miles from Antioch and Iconium just to confront Paul and his teachings! I know that there has been a time or two in all of our lives when we’ve really been irritated by someone, but I’m assuming no one reading this has ever been so ticked that they were willing to walk 5 miles let alone 50 miles to express their anger towards that person!

Nevertheless, these men were so mad that Paul and Barnabas were teaching the Good News to these people that Acts 14:19 (NIV) tells us that, “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.”

Talk about a quick turn of events! One minute the crowd was calling Paul a god and within the span of one short verse, they stoned Paul to death all because a group of angry men told them to do so!

But if Paul’s story ended here, no one would remember him. His story would fade just as quickly as the 1993 Buffalo Bills AFC Championship Game would have faded into the abyss of nothingness had they not mounted an incredible 35 point comeback. But just like any memorable story we’ve heard, Paul didn’t lay on the ground nor did he run away, but instead Acts 14:20 (NIV) tells us that, “But after the disciples had gathered around [Paul], he got up and went back into the city…” (Acts 14:19-20, NIV).

Paul went back into the same city that just tried to kill him because Paul knew that so much of our message is validated by how we respond when we get knocked down. No one cares about all the hope and peace your claim Christ brings you when everything in your world is going well. They want to see if you’re still preaching about the “…peace of God which transcends all understanding…” (Philippians 4:6-7, NIV) when your world around you is falling apart. That’s when you really get the opportunity to prove the value of your faith, in the trials.

So when things get a little bumpy in your life, how are you responding? Are you busy complaining? Are you running to a bottle of alcohol or a mind-numbing television show? Or are you, as Paul did, springing back to the hope of the Gospel and meditating on the promises of God? Because it’s when we get back up after getting knocked down that we show the world the true riches of God’s promises and peace.

How are you responding when you get knocked down?