My boys are fans of the Marvel superhero movies. This summer we decided as a family to start watching through the movies from beginning to end, in chronological order. The first movie in the list (although it was one of the most recent to be released) was Captain Marvel.
My favorite scene is near the end. Carol's enemy is trying to keep her down by reminding her of all her failures...all the times she was weak, defeated, fallen. But then Carol's perspective shifts. Instead of focusing on the falling down, she remembers what happens afterward....how she gets back up. This is what gives her strength and empowers her to fight.
As I was reading my Bible this morning, this verse stood out to me. In Mark 9:31 Jesus said "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." The disciples did not understand. A Savior that would be killed? That doesn't make sense. And in the first few days after Jesus was crucified, they were only able to see the loss and feel the sadness and disappointment. They had forgotten the second part of this statement....that after three days he will RISE! That is when God's power and promise are revealed and understood.
In the moment, we tend to only see our failure or loss. But people of faith can look back and shift their perspective from seeing the failure, to recognizing the moment that we got back up. We overcame. That is what gives us strength and hope.
As my boys get older (now 12, 14, and 16) I have to lessen my control and allow them to take on more responsibility. This is hard because I want to protect them. I don't want them to fail. I want to keep them safe. Yet I also realize that the way they will learn and gain strength is THROUGH this process of failing and getting back up again. When I start to worry "What If...?", I need to remind myself that God is faithful. I now have a child driving! What if...? How do I control that fear? By reminding myself that whatever may happen to knock us down, God is faithful, and we will eventually rise.
My challenge to you is to look back on your life as Carol did, by focusing not on your failures and heartaches, but on how you overcame them and got back up. You can do it again.
"At the bottom of the deepest, darkest what-if imaginable is a faithful God." -Steven Furtick
