Setback to Comeback: 5 Days of Inspiration to Start Your ComebackSample

EXIT SURVIVAL MODE

I had lunch not long ago with someone who has had some incredible setbacks: a loss of a loved one and a financial setback. As I was talking with the man, he said that last year he kind of just checked out. That phrase “checked out” really hit me.

I think that when people check out, they are in survival mode. You may need to be in survival mode for a while to heal, but that can only be a temporary place. There comes a point when after you’ve checked out, licked your wounds, and got your bearings, you must exit survival mode. You can’t stay there. You may think you need to stay in that season longer, but it is dangerous for your comeback.

You can get comfortable in survival mode because it can be quite a pity party where you dwell on how you’ve been wronged, how it’s not fair, or how things haven’t gone your way. As I said to the man, I had lunch with, “It’s time to get out of survival mode. It’s time for your comeback.”

There comes a point when your comeback must begin, but it can’t when you are in survival mode. Survival mode is a fruitless way to live. There is no growth, no progress, and no impact in survival mode. You will never become who God created you to be, nor will you experience the marvelous plans God has for your life if you stay in survival mode.

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds.” God did not put you on this earth just to survive; God put you here to thrive. And God wants you to thrive, to overcome the setback, to break through the obstacles that stand in your way.

Survival mode is a very isolated way of living. Checking out can mean a lot of alone time. Now there is value in a season of reflection and introspection, but then you need to reconnect with friends and get back into the swing of life.

If you are going to have the comeback God wants for you, you must step out of survival mode and into a place of expectation for what God will do in your life.