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Micah 7:8, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”

His enemies were rejoicing in his demise prematurely.  Micah was down, but not out.  Never underestimate the resolve of a child of God.  Micah’s enemies spoke too soon.  They thought that just because Micah had fallen, that he would never recover.  The scripture never says, you’ll never fall.  But God’s Word reassures us, that if we fall, there is a way back up.  Falling down doesn’t make you a failure.  Staying down does.  

Proverbs 24:16a, “For a just man falleth seven times, and risethup again. . .”  Here’s the key.  It’s not complicated.  You just have to get up one time more than you fall.  My question to you is:  Can you get up one more time?  Babe Ruth struck out more times than he hit home runs.  But we only remember him for the home runs.  Abraham Lincoln lost most of the elections he ever ran in.  But we only remember him for the Presidency that he won.  Michael Jordan missed more last second shots than he made—but we only remember him for the ones he made.  Micah said, “When I fall, I shall arise.”  

At Ai, after Joshua and his army experienced a resounding defeat, the angel of the Lord came to Joshua who was lying with his face in the dirt in shame and defeat.  So, the Lord lets Joshua get it out of his system.  There he lays.  The mighty man of God, Joshua, wallowing in pity and in the dirt.  Then the Lord says one of the most profound theological statements ever recorded in Sacred Scripture, in Joshua 7:10:  “Get up.”  That’s it:  “Get up!”  You cannot fight laying down in the dirt.  “Get up!”  Your best teacher is your last mistake.  Erasers are not made for people who never use a pencil.  The truth is simple; you can’t move ahead lying down.  The good news is:  You may be down, but you’re not out!  Get up!

Look at Micah’s resolve:  “When I fall, I shall arise.”   Paul the great apostle would say in his writings:  “I am persuaded.”  Like Paul, Micah had a resolve that said it wasn’t his choice to be knocked down to start with, but it was his choice not to stay down, but to rise up.  What got me down, won’t keep me down.  Remember, the farther down I am, the higher God can lift me up!