I have a mantra, and it’s called “Move On.” I have a friend who despises my chant. Tells me I’m insensitive. Move on just doesn’t click with him. The way I look at it we’ve all been disappointed, hurt, abused and kicked around, but we have to move on. I’m sure my mom would agree with him, she doesn’t like my advice either. But she takes it.
For a few months, I’ve been leading a writing workshop at a women’s shelter. And most sessions are not about the prose and poetry, it’s about the pain and anger. Yet, my aim is to encourage these women to face their fears and, you guessed it, move on. I tell them, you’ve already started to move, look where you are. They chuckle.
We can’t get what God has for us if we stay where we are.
I’m not saying it’s easy, it’s not. But we can’t hang on to stuff, let it cloud our perspective, cause us to push people away, kick us down, stop us frommoving forward. We can’t get what God has for us if we stay where we are. We can’t hear him, we will not listen, and we will not obey.
Remember those Israelites who started grumbling they wanted to go back to Egypt where they ate fish at no cost. They wanted cucumbers melons, leeks onions, and garlic because they were tired of eating manna, living in the desert (Numbers 11:5). They didn’t want to move on. And they stayed in that desert for a mighty long time, don’t you think.
I, too, can be stubborn and not move on. But I’m learning the more I hold onto a grudge, anger, bitterness I am less likely to grow with God. God sure can’t use us if we’re stuck in one place, unwilling to trust him to make our lives better. I’ve been there. I’m glad God didn’t kick me to the curb.
And I’m not the only one who says move on. Apostle Paul said to the Philippi, Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13b-14). The Message version: I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
Like the runner, we too, must edge forward and move on.
Today’s Prayer: Father God, help us to move on. Don’t let our hurts become festering wounds that cannot heal. Do not let us stay where we are, unable to push forward. Help us to find peace with you despite the storm, the chaos, the crazy. Amen.