In this message, I want to share a deeply personal journey—one that began with a sudden fall and a broken hip, but became a powerful reminder of what it means to fall… and rise again.

<p>In this message, I want to share a deeply personal journey—one that began with a sudden fall and a broken hip, but became a powerful reminder of what it means to fall… and rise again.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Mark Finley

You Don’t Have to Stay Down

Well, thank you for joining me on this journey of recovery.

As many of you know, I had a very tragic fall and broke my hip and had to have total hip replacement.

You might notice my beautiful yellow socks.

These are hospital socks that have grippers on them to enable me to be stable on my feet as I walk.

Of course, I need a walker because without the walker, I'm unable to keep my balance and unable to sustain my strength to walk at all.

You know, falls are the leading cause of injury and death among the elderly people today.

I don't consider myself elderly at 81 years old.

3000000 emergency room visits take place every single year because of falls.

1000000 of those result in hospitalizations.

83% of all hip fractures come from falls.

Now, as a Bible student, I'm always thinking of parallels.

So I wanna talk to you about falling in the Christian life and getting up.

I wanna talk to you about walking with Jesus.

And I wanna talk to you about the hope we have of eternal life, all based on a hip fracture, all based on falls.

But I think if you are going through any kind of pain, any kind of difficulty, any kind of challenge, or if you have fallen and you're thinking about giving up, this video is for you.

Let's pray together as we discover how to walk with Jesus in the Christian life.

Father in heaven, thank you for the opportunity to open your word.

Thank you that every experience in life can be a symbol, a parable, of learning to walk with you.

And Father, as we talk about my personal injury, help us relate it to our own spiritual lives and growth in life.

We pray thee, guide us by your spirit, in Christ's name, Amen.

You know, as I was walking down that trail and caught my foot on a root and fell, Landing on my hip, immediately pain seared down my leg and through my hip.

And as I lay there, I had to make a decision.

I looked for my cell phone and called for help.

You know in the Christian life when we fall the question is are we gonna lie there are we gonna call for help?

The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 and 2, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

1 of the texts that I have really clung to during this entire time is found in the book of Micah.

And it's here in Micah chapter 7 verse 8.

So I've been saying to myself, Satan don't Rejoice over me.

You've knocked me down, I should say, but you haven't knocked me out.

Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy Satan.

When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.

And it's so much that way in the Christian life.

In the Christian life at times, We don't live in harmony with the will of God.

You may have gotten angry and you feel really badly about it.

You may have disobeyed the commandments of God and you have felt terrible about it.

You may have been lying down in brokenness, just like I was lying down in brokenness when I fell on my hip.

But yet God says to you that the enemy is not going to triumph.

By the grace of God, our sins can be forgiven.

By the power of God, our lives can be changed.

It might be the pit of despair, might be the pit of discouragement, might be the pit of despondency, but in that pit of despair, discouragement, and despondency you can rise.

Wherever you find yourself, Jesus is bigger than your problem, greater than your difficulty, larger than the circumstance you find yourself going through.

I remember a time that I was holding evangelistic meetings internationally on 1 of the Caribbean islands.

And just before going on the stage to speak to that international audience via satellite, We had thousands coming to the meetings, but I was gonna speak via satellite.

The producer called me and said, "'Pastor Mark, there's a phone call for you." And I said, well, please tell them I can't take it now because I just have a few minutes before going on the air.

He said, the person on the other end of the line appears to be a young lady.

The producer brought me the phone, and the voice on the other end of the line was obviously a young lady's voice.

And she said, Pastor Mark, I just want you to know that you're the last person I'll talk to.

I've begun drinking again, and I have lived a life not in harmony with God's will.

I've fallen so low, and I'm gonna take my life tonight.

I talked to her about the fact that nobody has fallen so low that Jesus cannot deliver them.

He released from condemnation Mary Magdalene who had fallen into sin.

And he spoke to Peter who denied him 3 times words of hope.

So I spoke to this woman about encouragement and hope.

I said, look, take those pills now while we're talking.

I'm not leaving the phone until you come back.

I said, go to that friend's house right after the meeting.

I told her that I was going to be at a location where she was preaching in about 3 days.

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You Don’t Have to Stay Down

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