Go On A Rebound!

In basketball, not every shot you aim for gets in. However, players don’t give up. They chase after the ball and pick it up and shoot again. They go on a rebound. Life is similar to a basketball game. Things often don’t work out, we might make a bad decision, we succumb to that temptation again, we miss stepping out in obedience, we mess up and fall. Often times, we stop playing and hit a wall after a fall. However, God does not want us to stop playing. Instead, He wants us to get back in the game and try again with His help! Proverbs 24:16 reminds us that though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again! How do you rebound to stay in the game and win?

An important aspect to go on a rebound is perspective. We need to have God’s perspective even in the setback and hold onto to the promises He has given us. Two people can see the very same thing and have two very different perspectives. One perspective is to see what valuable lessons you have learnt from your setback and set out to try again in faith knowing that God can help you overcome. The other alternative is to succumb to the voice of the enemy and have the perspective that it is impossible to overcome and then totally give in and give up.

Joshua and Caleb faced the giants and they came back with a report to Moses that they could conquer and possess the Promised Land. In contrast, the ten spies who went with Joshua and Caleb had a report that they were like grasshoppers in their own eyes and they surely would be defeated. Two completely different perspectives! Which perspective will you choose – the one with God in it and potential victory or giving into the enemy and total defeat?
Numbers 13:30-31
³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Joshua and Caleb knew that they could go on a rebound and conquer because they had a perspective that aligned with God’s perspective. They had a different spirit – a spirit of a conqueror that helped them see that they were not grasshoppers but mighty men who could achieve the purposes of God! They knew that if God had promised them something, they could trust Him to accomplish it. They chose to focus on opportunities to win rather than focus on problems and defeat.
Numbers 14:8-9 
If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. ⁹ Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Numbers 14:24
²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 

The second quality that we need to go on a rebound is perseverance, not giving up but to keep on going on! This involves setting your face in the onward and upward direction that God has called you and not wavering despite the challenges. This involves making a decision, a commitment and resolving in your heart that you are going to see through the setbacks and not stop till you see the outcome that was promised to you! Paul faced so many challenges in his ministry, often setback after another. Yet through it all he persevered because he knew that he needed to rise again and move forward to take hold of all that Christ was going to accomplish through him!
Philippians 3:12-14
¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We need to shake off the hurts, disappointments, fear, doubts and worries that so easily entangle and hinder us so that we can go on a rebound. We are in it for the long haul, a marathon so that we can see the end result that God has for us in mind. Jesus knows what we are facing because He too had to persevere to see through the plan that God had for Him! There is victory and joy on the other side of perseverance and endurance and it is totally worth fighting on for! Let’s keep our focus on Jesus to finish our race strong!
Hebrews 12:1-3
¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Are you going through a setback and feeling totally depleted? It is not permanent. You cannot sit back on the sidelines. It is time to get back in the game. It is time to align your perspective with God’s and know that you need to rise up again and trust Him for a victory. You need to persevere focusing not on your problems or your own inadequacy but the adequacy of Christ in you! As you rise up from the ashes of defeat and go forward again, there is victory and joy waiting for you! You are on a rebound for His glory!