Comebacks don't seem likely when your back is up against the wall

Hear the mighty and compassionate words of Tony Evans, the preacher of faith and endurance, who declared: “Comebacks don’t seem likely when your back is up against the wall and your hope is depleted. But if you will stay the course, you will discover God’s power to reverse the irreversible in your life.” These words resound like a trumpet in the hearts of the weary, for they speak to every soul that has stood upon the edge of despair and looked into the darkness of defeat. Evans’ message is one of divine perseverance—the call to trust when all seems lost, to press forward when strength fails, and to believe that God’s power is greatest when human power is gone.

The origin of this quote comes from Evans’ long ministry of teaching faith through adversity. As a pastor and theologian, he often spoke of life’s valleys not as punishments, but as proving grounds where the soul learns the true meaning of faith. Having endured personal loss and hardship himself—including the passing of his beloved wife, Lois—he preached not as a man untouched by suffering, but as one who had walked through it and found God waiting on the other side. His words are not the shallow optimism of comfort; they are the battle-tested wisdom of one who knows that hope, though battered, never dies when rooted in divine strength.

When Evans speaks of “your back up against the wall,” he evokes the image of the ancient warrior surrounded by enemies, trapped, and out of options. It is the moment when one’s own strength can do no more, and all roads seem closed. But it is precisely in such moments, he says, that God reveals His power—the power to reverse the irreversible, to turn mourning into dancing, loss into renewal, death into resurrection. For when man reaches the end of his rope, God begins His work. The comeback is not born from comfort, but from crisis transformed by faith.

Consider the story of Job, the righteous man who lost everything—his health, his family, his fortune—until even his friends declared that hope was gone. Job’s back was not merely against the wall; the wall itself had fallen upon him. Yet though he could not see it, God was working behind the scenes, shaping his suffering into redemption. When the test was complete, Job’s restoration was double what he had lost. His story is the eternal proof that what seems irreversible to man is never impossible for God.

History, too, gives witness to this divine pattern. When Abraham Lincoln faced the agony of civil war, the Union shattered and hope nearly extinguished, he did not surrender to despair. With every defeat, he turned his eyes heavenward, believing that providence still had a purpose. The turning point came when all seemed most hopeless—when the blood of the nation had soaked the soil. Yet from that pain rose renewal, unity, and the end of slavery. Lincoln’s perseverance mirrored the truth Evans speaks: if one will stay the course, refusing to let despair dictate destiny, then God Himself will bring about a victory that defies logic and history alike.

Evans’ message is also deeply personal. Every human soul encounters moments when hope is depleted, when prayers feel unanswered, and silence fills the heavens. Yet in that silence, God is not absent—He is preparing the comeback. The seed grows not on the mountaintop but in the darkness of the soil. So too the heart grows strongest in its seasons of trial. When Evans says “stay the course,” he is calling for endurance not born of stubbornness, but of trust—that even when the road vanishes, faith becomes the path. To stay the course is to stand still when fear says “flee,” to believe when reason says “give up.”

The heart of this truth lies in the phrase “God’s power to reverse the irreversible.” Human beings see endings; God sees beginnings. We see tombs; He sees resurrections. We see broken dreams; He sees new purposes. There is no failure so final that divine grace cannot redeem it, no loss so great that divine love cannot heal it. The one who clings to faith in the darkest hour becomes the vessel through which God displays His might. Every great victory—spiritual or earthly—began in a place where defeat seemed certain.

Therefore, let this teaching be carried forward: do not measure God’s plan by the present moment. When your strength is spent and your future dim, remain steadfast. Pray, even through tears. Wait, even through silence. Act, even when uncertain. For comebacks are not born in comfort, but in courage. The world may call it impossible, but heaven calls it preparation. God’s timing is never late, and His power is never small.

And so, O traveler of faith, remember Tony Evans’ words: when your back is against the wall, look not at the wall, but at the God who stands behind it. Do not let despair dictate your ending, for the Author of life is not done writing. Stay the course, hold fast to hope, and one day you will see what Evans promised—that the irreversible is but the canvas upon which God paints His greatest miracles.