The Real Test Of Strength Isn’t Winning - It’s Recovering

Have you ever had one of those seasons where you just couldn’t seem to catch a break?

You get one thing fixed and something else falls apart. You start to recover from one loss, only to get hit by another. It can feel like life keeps sweeping your legs out from under you.

Solomon understood that kind of reality when he wrote, “Even though good people may be bothered by trouble seven times, they are never defeated, but the wicked are overwhelmed by trouble.” (Proverbs 24:16 NCV)

Notice it doesn’t say if trouble comes, but when. Good people fall too. They lose jobs, friends, family, health, confidence, and sometimes hope.

But there’s something different about them. They don’t stay down. They get back up, not because it’s easy, not because they enjoy the pain, but because something deep inside of them refuses to quit.

Sometimes, they don’t even know where the strength is coming from. But it’s coming from God and our trust in Him.

That something is faith. Not the “Sunday morning kind” of faith, but the kind that’s forged in dark nights and quiet tears. It’s the stubborn belief that God still has a plan even when you can’t see it. That life can bruise you, but it can’t break you if you keep moving forward.

It’s interesting Solomon said “seven.” Falling seven times represents more than repetition. In the Bible, it means “completely.”

You’ve been through the full cycle of pain, disappointment, and failure. Yet somehow, you rise. And when you rise, you rise different. You rise wiser. You rise more compassionate. You rise with less pride and more peace. And rising—each time you rise—you get stronger and stronger. But ya gotta rise.

The wicked, Solomon says, are “overwhelmed” by trouble. That’s not because they’re weaker, but because they’re standing on the wrong foundation.

When your strength, success, or worth is rooted in things that can be shaken, one storm is all it takes to take you down. Jesus told the story of storms. Everyone has them, but He said, “The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.” (Matthew 7:25 NCV) You bend, but you don’t break.

So, if you’ve fallen again, it may be wise not to ask, “Why me?” but instead, ask “What now?” What lesson is here? What strength is being built? What story will I tell later about this moment when I refused to stay down?

You’re not defeated just because you’re on the ground. You’re defeated only if you stop trying to get back up.

So it’s time to rise again. Quietly, slowly, honestly—but rise.

GOD, help my friends and family—even the people I don’t know—to rise. Holy Spirit, help them get back up and keep going. The only way to keep going is to keep going. Help us do that. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen ♥️