Moving forward

Are you in that place where you would rather stay and rest where you are because it’s the easiest thing to do? I know I’ve been there. I didn’t have the strength (mentally, physically or spiritually) to move from where I was. I just wanted to give up and let the world pass me by. I didn’t care what happened. I just didn’t want to move.

That is not God’s purpose for us. Proverbs 24:16 says even though the righteous man falls seven times, he gets back up. We are not to stay down when life knocks us down. We are to get back up through His strength. We are to move forward, not backwards or in the same place.

Hebrews 11 speaks of Moses and the choice he had to make by faith to leave Egypt. It mentions 3 things he did to help him move forward.

1. He left Egypt behind

When the circumstances of your life knock you down, you carry those scars with you for the rest of your journey. They are a reminder of where you have been. You need them so you can see how far you’ve come. Don’t be afraid of the scars from your past. By allowing others to see them, it lets them know they can survive what they are enduring.

While we carry the scars with us, we need to leave the pain behind. If you continue to carry the pain with you, the wound will never heal. I don’t know that the pain fully goes away, but we have to choose not to dwell on it so we can move forward. Moses had to leave the life he lived in Egypt behind to move forward, but he used what he learned from that life to lead others.

2. He held to his purpose

God has a purpose for your life no matter what you have endured. When I lost everything in my life, I felt like I had lost my purpose. I allowed my circumstances to cloud my view of who God made me to be. I couldn’t see how God could use someone who was as broken as I was. It added to the grief that I was going through.

Moses could have lost his purpose as he left the life he knew, but he didn’t. He held to his purpose and led the Israelites out of bondage. It’s only when we’ve endured pain and suffering that we can help free those who are still bound to their pain. God uses the broken to help heal the broken. God still has a purpose for your life even if you can’t see it now.

3. He crossed the Red Sea

At a time when his back was against the wall, the Egyptian armies came to attack. There was no where for him to turn and no where to go. He prayed and asked God for help. At that moment, God parted the sea and allowed him to cross on dry land. When his enemies pursued, it sea swallowed them up.

You may feel there is no way out of your situation. You are surrounded by circumstances and problems in your life with no where to turn. Don’t give up. Ask God to do the impossible for you. He will make a way where there seems to be no way out. When you step out in faith and move forward, the sea will swallow those things that pursue you.

If you are in that place where you’ve been knocked down and don’t know what to do, don’t give up. By faith move forward and leave that place behind, know that God still has a purpose for your life and then pray that God will do the impossible in your life. He will show you which direction is forward.

What can you do today to start the process of moving forward?