“I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up”

We’ve all seen the commercial: A dramatization of an elderly woman, who appears to be all alone, lying on her living room floor with no one to help her; crying out; “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

The commercial is for a medical alarm and protection company. The company provides a monitor that can be activated to call a dispatch service for help when someone who has fallen is unable to reach a phone. These type companies can help provide peace of mind for elderly people who live alone.

And then, as if to add validity, the former Attorney General of the United States of America comes on to let us know that he, too, has subscribed to this service provider. 

You can tell how old you are based upon how you respond to that commercial. If you are young, you probably respond with laughter at the corniness of the commercial. If you are older, you probably get upset; because you can’t find paper and pen to write down the number... hey where are my glasses??

So, what do you do when you have fallen and you can’t get up? Who do you call out to when you are all alone and can’t get yourself back up? Do you have a monitor that can be activated to call a dispatch service for help when you have fallen and are unable to reach a phone? 

Do you have a company that can help provide peace of mind for you when you have fallen? Where do you turn? Who do you call out to? If you look to yourself, there is probably a pretty good chance that you will fall once again. Proverbs 26:11 says; “As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.” 

That may sound judgmental, but I’m writing this for all of us. Don’t be deceived and think that because you are a Christian you can’t or won’t fall. That’s why it shouldn’t surprise us to hear of a Christian falling; sadden us (yes!), but not surprise us. NONE of us are pre-destined to be without sin. And that is precisely why we need Jesus Christ. HE is the “Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). 

Simply put, all of us are prone to wander; that’s correct, I said ALL of us. We, like sheep (metaphorically), see a piece of grass and head off the wrong way. The Bible says; “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6). 

God and God alone is the One we need to turn to when we have fallen and can’t get up. Not some “self-help” or saying some formulated set of religious sayings. When we’ve blown it and fallen, we need to look to Our Heavenly Father thru Jesus Christ to get us up once again.  

Jesse Ventura was quoted ten years ago or so as saying; “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers.” Personally, I think that Christianity is more like a “stretcher”. With crutches you are able to hobble around. With a stretcher, you are dependent on someone else to pick you up.

Don’t believe for a minute when you fall that you are able to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”. We are saved by God’s grace and His grace ALONE! (Ephesians 2:8). Jesus Christ is called “Savior” because that is what He did when He died on the cross.

When you study the life of the Apostle Paul in the Bible, you will notice that when he first became a Christian he called himself a “Pharisee” and “blameless” (Philippians 3:5-6). But as he grew older in the Lord he called himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome he writes; “18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. … v 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:18-19, & 24-25)

The older I get and the more I realize the depravity and wanderings of my own heart, the more I appreciate just how good God’s mercy is. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

On this I take my stand when I have fallen. How about you?

I'm forever grateful Written by Mark Altrogge
You did not wait for me
to draw near to You
But You clothed Yourself
with frail humanity

You did not wait for me
to cry out to You
But You let me hear Your Voice
calling me

And I'm Forever Grateful to You
I'm Forever Grateful for The Cross
I'm Forever Grateful to You
That You came to seek and save the lost

(repeat all)

That You came to seek and save the lost