By Michael Wambugu
There’s nothing as exciting as a comeback – seeing someone with dreams, watching them fail, and then getting a second chance – Rachel Griffiths.
If you are successful – in business or career, or you are enjoying the favour of God in ministry, it is all too easy to get noticed. The same happens if you lose grip, and begin to come down. People notice that your fortunes are dwindling, or your ministry is shrinking. Unfortunately, it is the latter that people highlight more – your failures. They talk about you in the past tense – when you were thriving; when your family was the envy of all who knew you; when your ministry had impact.
It can be cause of great distress. The words in Proverbs 19:7 become a reality, when you begin to go down: “A poor man is shunned by all his relatives – how much more do his friends avoid him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.” All of a sudden, you find yourself in your own circle. Phone calls shrink. Invitations to social gatherings cease. You reflect on the dreams you had, now gone with the wind.
But, every now and then God does turn situations around. People who have been written off, because they are seen to have failed, get a second chance. They rise from the ashes, and thrive again.
Think about Jacob. When he left to go to Paddan Aram, to escape his brother’s [Esau] plot to exact revenge for deceptively taking his [Esau’s] birthright, it must have appeared as if Jacob was going to spend the rest of his life as a fugitive on the run. Many people who knew him must have written him off after learning that he had taken off to save his life. And as usually happens, he must have been the subject of talk in many homes and for many groups of people. The young man’s life must have appeared doomed.
