Someone once said, “Every setback is an opportunity for a comeback.” 

I like “comebacks.” Who doesn’t? I like rooting for the “underdog,” and I like the “firsts” of things. I always have.

I like the first of a new year, the first of the week and the first of each day, maybe because it is a fresh start. A clean slate, if you will.

For years now, I have been taking the first of the year to re-evaluate my life in different areas. I get by myself with the Lord and spend time in prayer and meditation, asking the Lord to show me any area of my life that needs changing. 

I used to go off by myself to the mountains for a week to do that when I owned my business, but in recent years, I have learned how to carve out time alone with the Lord without having to go away for a week. 

During that time, I pray scriptures like this one as I seek the Lord’s guidance: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

As I hear from the Lord, I make a list and a plan to carry out those changes. I repent and ask forgiveness where needed and I ask the Lord to help me make the necessary changes that He would have me to make. Like most people, I do not always succeed in making all the changes I want to make at one time but I do make some and I keep working on the others as the Lord leads me and enables me.

Our country has had a setback called 2020! Many people are feeling like the underdog right now and they need a comeback!

As we move toward the “first” part of the New Year, let us view it as a fresh start, a clean slate, if you will!

Let us each make 2021 our comeback year!

Let us seek the Lord with all our hearts like never before. Let us lay every burden, every heartbreak, every anxious thought and weary body brought on by 2020 at the feet of Jesus. He tells us in the Bible, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

God offers everyone a clean slate through belief in His Son Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)(Romans 10:9) And that is the most significant “comeback” any of us could ever have.

The Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God, and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

If you feel like the underdog, if you need a fresh start, a clean slate, you can have it, my friend. It is yours for the asking.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

My prayer is that you, like me, will use the setbacks of 2020 as an opportunity for a comeback in 2021!

 

Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a B.S. in psychology from Valdosta State University.