Though I Fall, I Will Rise
Psalm 8:4 What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
We stand before God asking ancient questions that feel deeply personal: What are we? Why do we long for a life in God when, if we are honest, we know our nature doesn’t truly want it? We speak often of sin as our limitation, as though it was merely an inability—I can’t reach what God asks of me, so why try? But Scripture does not let us hide there.
God commands us to be holy not because He delights in setting unreachable standards, but because holiness is the life we were made for. “Be holy, for I am holy.”( I Pater 1:16) The command itself is an invitation—a revelation of what is possible when a heart is fully turned toward Him. The truth is difficult but freeing: we could be closer to God than we are. We could live more righteously than we do. And often, we do not—not because we cannot, but because we do not truly desire it.
There are moments in our walk with God when the clouds part. We see, for a brief and glorious time, the mountain life and the Christ like life we were meant to live. In those moments, our hearts stir. We say, I can live that way. I want that life. And so we begin the climb. Christ is right there with us. His encouragement is real. His presence is near.
Then temptation comes.
We recognize the choice before us. We know which path leads upward, and we know which leads away. And still, we choose what does not lead to life. We stumble. We fall. And it feels as though we have returned to the very place we began.
Why?
Because desire, though sincere, is not yet surrender. We want the beauty of holiness without the cost of dying to ourselves. We want Christ, but we still cling to what competes with Him in our hearts. Temptation does not usually come dressed as rebellion—it comes as comfort, familiarity, control. It offers us what we know instead of what we saw.
Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.
Yet God is patient. He does not abandon us at the base of the mountain. He waits for us to be honest about what we love, about what we fear losing, about what we are unwilling to lay down. Sanctification is not God asking us to try harder; it is God inviting us to trust Him more deeply. It is learning to stop climbing in our own strength and to abide in Christ, who alone gives life.
Today, let us ask for more than inspiration. Let us ask for a willing heart. Let us ask God to make us want Him more than we want ourselves unchanged. And when we fall, let us not despair, but return again—eyes fixed upward—trusting that the One who calls us holy is also the One who makes us so.
With Gratitude, Pastor Jesse
