One way to know if someone is a Christian is if he gets back up after he falls down. It is God’s strength that makes it possible for Christians to rebound from adversity. David said in Psalm 68:35, “The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people.”

Some Christians may think that falling down is a bad thing and that God should keep us from falling down, but it is from getting up after we fall down that we gain strength. Life without adversity makes us weak and unable to make progress in our journey through life. The ability to get up after we have been knocked down comes from doing it over and over again.

It is hard to imagine that God plans adversity, actually strategically places it in our pathway so that we will fall down. It seems like cruel and unusual punishment to intentionally trip us up, but it is not the falling down that God takes pleasure in, it is seeing us get up again that makes him happy.

David said, “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive” (Psalm 68:18). Just as God led the Israelites out of Egypt, he led them into captivity. Even while David enjoyed his moments of glory, he knew there were tough times ahead for Israel. David was aware that God’s plan for his people did not stop with them conquering their enemies in the Promised Land. Their Messiah would come after they had returned from captivity.

The word David used for captivity, sh‘biy (sheb – ee´) indicates being exiled or captured (7628). The word ascended, ‘âlâh (aw – law´) means to go up. “The return from Exile, which was a journey from north to south (Palestine) is described as a ‘going up'” (5927).

Getting up after we fall down is difficult because we know we will fall down again and there is a temptation to think, I might as well stay down and avoid the bumps and bruises. What we have to remember is that our inheritance cannot be enjoyed while we are sitting on the ground. In Psalm 47, it says that we are to “Shout unto God with a voice of triumph” (Psalm 47:1). In order to do that, we have to get up.