The Comeback: It’s Not Too Late And You’re Never Too Far

And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Exodus 3:9-10

The greatest comeback occurred when Jesus was raised up out of the grave into everlasting life. Now, we can celebrate the power of God that can bring us back even from the brink of death. This is a deeper kind of comeback that God offers to everyone. Just think of the remarkable comeback story of Moses in the Bible.

When we meet Moses, he is a man with an anger problem. One day, he witnesses an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. So he kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand. Moses took matters into his own hands the only way he knew how. Yet a crime was still a crime, and because of that crime, Moses needed to leave Pharaoh’s house, where he’d grown up.

Moses was banished to the wilderness, where all he did for years was tend sheep. But then, at a time when many would be thinking about their last chapters on this earth, God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush and called him to a position of leadership. “I know it looks like life has passed you by,” God said, “but I’m going to use you to lead my people out of bondage in Egypt and into the Promised Land.”

Moses had a great comeback story over his anger and failed opportunities. But he also had a speech impediment and lousy self-confidence. He didn’t think he could do anything useful for God. But along with his brother, Aaron, he went to Pharaoh and told him to let God’s people go. Eventually Pharaoh did that, and the whole nation had a comeback story.

Moses had relapses and disobeyed God a few times after that, and God wouldn’t let him go into the Promised Land as a consequence. But in the New Testament, there’s a story of Jesus hiking up on a mountain with two of his disciples. There something supernatural happened. Jesus’ clothes turned a radiant white, and he shone in brilliant glory in the presence of his disciples. Alongside Jesus two others suddenly appeared, and one of them was Moses, in his all-time most powerful comeback. In the grace of God there is a comeback for people who’ve already had a comeback and need another.

We could talk about story after story like these. In fact, the entire story of humanity is a story of people who have stumbled and fallen, yet somehow in this ocean of God’s grace and mercy, he provides a comeback for anyone who puts their faith and hope in Jesus. In the end, we find that no matter what we might be walking through, we can still have confidence that Jesus is the God of the comeback and that our story is not over as long as Jesus is in it.

Everybody needs a comeback, and everybody is offered a comeback. No matter what our obstacles are, no matter what mistakes we’ve made, no matter if we’re in a season of wandering or darkness, God’s purpose and plan will still prevail.

Respond

What stands out to you about Moses’ comeback story in the Bible?

Like Moses, we may feel we are on the back side of nowhere, or we’ve done too much wrong and there is no way back. How can we know that God always see us right where we are?