From Minor Setback to Major Comeback (eBook)

Chapter 1:
The Process

The first key to turning a minor setback into a major comeback is to not let the process stop your progress. Let me ask you a question: Who is Jesus without Judas? Who is David without Goliath? Who is Moses without Pharaoh, the Egyptian Army, and the Red Sea? Who is Noah without the flood? Who is Daniel without the lion’s den? Who is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego without the fiery furnace? Who is Martin Luther King Jr. without segregation and racism? Who is Rosa Parks without a segregated bus system? Who is Nelson Mandela without incarceration and apartheid?

Would we even know and remember these great individuals without their tests and trials? Would their lives be written about if these trials would not have come into their life? Would these individuals inspire us and give us courage to go through our everyday struggles if they had not faced such great trials? Why did these trials come into their life? One simple word, process. One of the ugliest words in the world is process, but if you want to turn a minor setback into a major comeback, you must understand that setbacks are part of the process and very few people, if any, fulfill their dreams and reach their goals without encountering setbacks.

When I was a kid, my mother used to wake up early on Saturday mornings and cook a big breakfast with either bacon, sausage, country ham, biscuits, or pancakes. The smell was so delightful and savory that it instantly woke me up from my sleep and had me in a great mood throughout the day. The smell and taste of the breakfast was so good that when I was a kid on Friday nights, I went to bed early anticipating that breakfast just as much as Saturday morning cartoons. What I did not realize in my young, naive mind is that the process the pork had been through to make it so tantalizing to my nose and taste buds was a nasty process. If you have ever had the unfortunate experience of visiting a hog-processing plant, it has the worst odor you will ever smell.

It’s the same thing with fried chicken. That fried chicken smells and tastes so good that a lot of people can’t even concentrate on what the pastor is preaching about on Sunday morning because their mind is fantasizing about that Sunday dinner, which almost always features fried chicken. Whether it is Popeye’s or homemade fried chicken, we love our fried chicken. As a matter of fact, the three things that make Sunday important is church, chicken, and NFL football. The irony is that most of us have never been to a chicken-processing plant. It is nasty, it smells terrible, and there might be rodents and insects around. You have migrant workers who are not paid living wages. It is an ugly process to get that savory chicken to your table.

Just like chicken and pork, we often look at the finished product of people we deem successful, but we do not know about the ugly process. Even in our own lives, we might have a goal, or God might have a plan for our lives, but he does not show us the process. He does not show us the setbacks and heartaches that are part of the process. If he did, we will probably not want to go through with it.

The process can be very painful. Think about processed hair. Processed hair is hair that has been chemically treated during production to make it appear a certain way. Prior to being styled, processed hair is soaked in a highly acidic bath to strip off its cuticles and emit all the natural characteristics of the strands. Basically, the process removes all the naps and curls out of the hair to make it straight. Process in real life is painful, but it straightens us out. What do we do when God puts the spiritual hot comb to our lives to straighten us out? The same concept applies with Processed foods and processed meats. I personally don’t like processed foods and meats, but processed meat is any meat which has been modified to improve its taste or to extend its shelf life. God uses process in our life to modify us to make us better, make us last longer, and give us more endurance and perseverance.

When I was first indicted on trumped-up tax charges and sentenced to prison, I was searching for understanding. While sitting in my cell in solitary confinement, a question came to me. What is the thing a lot of women want more than anything? The first thing that came to my mind was security. Then from the inside of me, I heard a no. What a lot of women want more than anything is to have a child. Then I heard from the inside of me, what is the most painful thing that the average woman will go through naturally? I said childbirth. From the inside of me, I heard that just like pregnancy and the experience of giving birth, the most painful things in life will give us what we want the most if we push through it. If a woman is pregnant and she does not push during the painful experience, that child could end up strangling on its umbilical cord and the child could end up stillborn.

The same way, a lot of our dreams have died during the painful process because we did not push in the middle of the process, we just simply gave up because the pain was so great. When you are experiencing a setback, and you are going through the process, it can be a dark time in your life. That’s why it is important to understand that there is a difference between the darkness of the tomb and the darkness of the womb. The darkness of the tomb means that you are dead. The darkness of the womb means that something new is about to be born.

From our hard times and setbacks, new dreams can be born. New relationships can be born. New opportunities can be born. New businesses, callings, careers, and insights can be born. Your darkest times and setbacks in your life can lead to the brightest times and biggest comebacks in your life if you push through. There is no pain like a woman giving birth, and there is no joy like the joy of a child being born. The key is that the mother must push through the pain. The thing that often makes us give up in the middle of a setback is that often we feel the pain, but we do not recognize the new opportunities that are in front of us to benefit from and to comeback stronger than ever from that pain.

Take for example a new day. A new day starts at twelve a.m. It is midnight; it is still dark outside, but a new day has arrived. A new day does not start when it is seven in the morning and the sun comes up. It starts when it is still dark; it may be dark in your life, but you have entered a new day. I was indicted; I was in prison; I was under investigation by the FBI and the IRS. It was unfair; it was dark outside, but it was a new day in my life. Even though the sun was not shining, it was still a new day.

You might be in a bad relationship, but it is a new day. You might have been fired from your job, but it’s a new day. You might have lost a loved one, but it’s a new day. It might be dark in your life; it might be hard right now. You might be in the middle of a setback, but it is a new day. Keep pushing because with every new day, it starts out dark, but eventually the sun shines; just push through the pain.

That’s the thing about the process: it is very painful, but all pain is not bad, a lot of pain is good. Some pain is divine. Sometimes when you go to the doctor, the doctor will recommend surgery, and that surgery can be painful. There is a difference between being cut with a knife and being cut with a scalpel from surgery. The cut from the knife is meant to harm or kill you. The cut from the surgeon is meant to heal or save your life. Both the knife and the surgeon’s scalpel hurt and are painful. Both the knife and scalpel make you bleed. Both the knife and the scalpel will leave you sore. But the knife is meant to kill you, and the scalpel is meant to save your life. Both the knife and scalpel cause pain; the only difference is the intent of the wielder; the wielder of the knife is using that knife to try to kill you. The wielder of the scalpel is wielding the scalpel to try to heal you.

Divine pain comes into our life to heal us. To get rid of the infections that are in our lives, that are keeping us from being our best, reaching our goals, fulfilling our dreams, and making that major comeback. The process is painful, but it is necessary. Process is something that every person had to go through to be born into this world physically, and process is something that everybody must go through to fulfill their destiny (the reason why they were born).

I heard a story about a kid who grew up in Detroit in the 1930s and 1940s. This kid loved playing baseball. This kid had a dream of playing for the Detroit Tigers one day. This kid was a great baseball player in high school, and after high school, he went away to serve in the military. This kid, when he came back to Detroit in 1952, was now a grown man. The Detroit Tigers offered him a contract to play in the minor leagues. He worked hard every day in practice; his skills improved, and he was about to land a contract with the Detroit Tigers to play on their major league team. Three years into his four-year contract with the minor league team, tragedy struck.

This young man suffered a terrible knee injury that forced him to quit playing baseball. He was depressed and discouraged. His dreams were shattered. He was in the middle of the process, and he was facing a setback. All he ever wanted to do since he was a child was play professional baseball for the Detroit Tigers. Life seemed unfair. He was forced to move back home with his parents. His father reminded the young man that he had told this young man since he was a kid that he would never make it...