Right-Moving vs Forward Moving - Which One Are YOU?

Let's take a look at what it means to be forward moving first and then we'll compare it to being RIGHT-MOVING. This might surprise you! To be forward moving means that you are moving ahead, things are easily falling into place. Almost too easily. Everything APPEARS good, solid and smooth sailing. We move forward because of choices. We move forward because of desires. We even move forward because we convince ourselves that what we've chosen to do, and have succeeded in accomplishing, is what the Lord led us to do. Convincing ourselves of these little lies can, and will, often times take us directly outside the will of our Lord! We need a job so we find one with much prayer. We take the first job offered because it “appears” like it was sent from the Lord, an answered prayer. But the danger lies behind the word “appears” because we didn't listen for His voice! We prayed. Yes. We were in need. Yes. But, what good is it if we don't stop and listen to what He wants us to do or how He wants us to move forward? Well, there is no good to be found in not listening. It just means it'll take us much longer to get back around to what He intended for us in His perfect plan in the first place! We're hard nuts to crack sometimes, aren't we? If you're honest with yourself, the answer is a screaming YES!

So by forward moving, we appear to the fallen world around us that it's ALL from the Lord and that's why we keep moving forward. Most Christians want to appear this way, even when they know inside that it's not really what it appears to be! What we, as Christians, should be striving for, is RIGHT-MOVING. That's the beautiful part of the journey anyway, to be in His will, walking His chosen path, doing His directed work. I know some people, professing Christians, who are constantly making their own choices, from their WANTS and desires, manipulating the outcome of “prayer” so that when they achieve what THEY WANT, and what the outcome should be in THEIR eyes, they tell the world it was from the Lord. Here's the danger in proclaiming this. I'm going to give another example from of those professing Christians to drive this point home because it's very important to grasp this! These same people will get their desired results because either they don't want to wait on what the Lord is doing or where the Lord is directing them, or they feel entitled to what their desires are based on the Scripture in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” The danger is when, after they've proclaimed all of their desires to be from the Lord because they're entitled to them, those desires turn out to not be in the will of the Lord and don't turn out quite the way they expected. It gives a bad and mixed message to the unbelievers who are watching and listening. If the Lord gave them the desires of their hearts, why are they so miserable, complaining or changing direction, they might ask themselves!

However, there is more to this Scripture that we need to look at in it's full context. Let's look at the verse before it first and then I'll tell you the verses 1-9. In Psalm 37:3, it says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” THEN it says to delight yourself ALSO in the Lord- emphasis mine – and He shall give you the desires of your heart. OK. Pretty clear to me that there are CONDITIONS in receiving the desires of our hearts. We are to trust the Lord, we are to do good, we are to dwell in the land and feed on His FAITHFULNESS! Now, let's look at verses 1-9 in their entirety. Psalm 37:1-9 reads as follows:

"v1)Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
v2) For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.
v3) Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. v4) Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. v5) Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. v6) He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. v7) Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. v8) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret - it only causes harm."

Now if you read these verses together, there are a lot of conditions, requests and commands. Committing our way to the Lord is an important part of receiving blessings and desires of our hearts! "Commit" in the Hebrew is "galal" (#1556 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary), and it literally means to "roll it over, remove" it to our Heavenly Father and trust Him to take care of all those things that are troubling, making us anxious and are problems for us. This is a promise that we can count on, "Trust Him and He shall bring it to pass." There are two conditions that must be done on our part before "He shall bring it to pass". First we have to give all of those problems willingly over to God, and secondly, we have to trust and have faith in the Lord that He'll bring it to pass. But remember,  our request HAS to be within the will of God. Most Christians just can't cut those problems loose and turn them over to God because they have to find something to worry about. For some people, worrying makes them feel alive. Commit your problems to Him, He is the God of the Universe, and ONLY He can change the minds of the people when they are set against us.

Stand out!

I've always compared forward-moving people with those who are going with the flow or swimming with the current. It's easy. It's painless. It doesn't require exertion. It doesn't require pain. And it doesn't require feeling uncomfortable. But more so, is that forward-moving doesn't require WAITING ON THE LORD! These people are the ones who appear to have everything under control, who seem to have everything going their way. But a closer look, and you will find that's not the case at all. Just because you are moving forward doesn't mean you are right-moving! Anyone can move forward, but not everyone will be rightly moving in the Will of God Almighty! That's the difference. Forward moving usually is from our own doing, our own choices and from our own inability to wait for the Lord, for His timing and stay in His Will. Forward moving, from my observations, seems to look good from the starting point, when one starts off good, but finishes poorly. Or it ends badly. For example, we make a decision without waiting on the Lord's direction and convince ourselves the decision we've just made IS from the Lord. We WANT this "thing" that we've made the decision on because it fulfills our desires of the heart. It looks like things are going pretty good. For a temporary amount of time. The end result, which is oftentimes completed in front of those who've you've proclaimed the Lord's Will in front of, doesn't end so well. So, then, IF this was the Will of our Loving Lord, then it wouldn't have caused us shame and embarrassment and it definitely wouldn't have caused Him to look like He didn't know what He was doing.

To “swim against the current or tide” is an idiom meaning basically to go against popular thought, popular beliefs or popular practice. I compare this to "right-moving." The Collins English Dictionary defines this idiom as, “to resist prevailing opinion”. It has it's origins as a Shakespearean metaphor in Henry IV where it was used to describe characteristics in opposition to one another. Being so, to “swim against the current or tide” ultimately carries with it stark denotations and connotations of opposition, resistance, and contradiction. This doesn't really sound all too appealing or encouraging does it? Why do you suppose it doesn't sound appealing? Well, because it requires a lot of work! It requires being uncomfortable. It requires your FAITH!

Swimming upstream, against the current, takes strength, endurance, focus and determination. It's challenging. Going against the current is the hard way, and in many ways, it's the unpopular way. But while many prefer swimming with the current, or going with the "flow" so to speak, there are many more who choose to take the challenge. Swimming against the current sets us apart. It even sometimes alienates us from the "popular" crowd. But because we are NOT of this world, it shouldn't matter if we're alienated. We're instructed not to take on the "appearances" of the world, do as the world does nor are we to swim in the same "current" as they do. For some, that's extremely hard not to do. Let's look at John 17:14-19 before moving on. Jesus says, on the eve of His Crucifixion, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. v15) My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. v16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. v17) Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." Now that we see what Jesus prayed for us even before He was nailed to the Cross, we know we are not OF this world. We are IN it, and must live here until the Lord Jesus Christ calls us home, but we are not to be conformed TO it! In verse 15, Jesus is praying for us to be protected from the evil one, or Satan. So why is that? Why would Jesus pray that if we are His children? The answer is found in John 17:18-19, "v18) As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. v19) And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

He has SENT us INTO the world, to be sanctified by the Truth but not to act, become or conform to the world in which we were sent INTO! As Christians, we must constantly be reminded of this because it plays a role in the direction we choose to move in....for the glory to God by "right-moving" or for our own selfish desires by "forward-moving." Both directions are a testimony to the unbelievers, although ONLY one GLORIFIES our Savior! The best part of this choice of right-moving is that with this choice, because it's the WILL of God, ALSO enables us to MOVE FORWARD with God! If we are only forward moving without the Will of God, then we aren't able to move forward WITH Him.....Oh what an awesome God we serve!!!

We are faced with all kinds of choices every single day. In every area of our lives. If we choose the right way, which is the way of the Lord and is RIGHTEOUS, then there will be a peace like no other! Philippians 3:13-14 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: 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.” I have realized there are two things that need to take place in order to move forward WITH God that will oftentimes help with our choices in desiring the Will of God. 1) Stop dwelling on the past. 2) Reach out in front of you, taking the narrow path, swim AGAINST the current and let Jesus place within you a new and positive vision for your future, and then take hold of it. He WANTS us to have a beautiful future. No doubt about it!!! To dwell on the past, on your failures, hurts or disappointments, only serves to do a few things for you.....1) It bogs you down. Makes you feel heavy-hearted and full of despair. 2) It usually brings you into a depression in which you live and that depression holds you back from giving you the strength to swim against that current. 3) It tends to make you feel ashamed of past failures, either in life in general, or maybe something with school, work,or relationships. It makes you feel DEFEATED. Then you allow those moments to linger as darkened memories that will only stress you out and haunt you. Recipes for disaster!

His WAY!

Scriptures say, in Isaiah 43:18-19, "v18) “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. v19) Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert." I have experienced this a time or two. Over the years, I've learned how God gives us signals when He wants us to let go of one thing, so that we can take hold of something else that He wants to give to us, or LEAD us to! Sometimes, He removes His grace, so that a job, position, or task that we once enjoyed becomes tedious and joyless because we've overstayed His will and became comfortable with the "comfortable." Other times, the Lord puts pressure on us, sometimes ALOT of pressure, squeezing us off of the old path, and redirecting us onto a new and better one. If we listen carefully, which is what HE wants us to do in the first place, we may hear His voice telling us something like, "I'm done with that! I have something else I want you to do now...I have something else I want to give you now.....I have someplace else I want to TAKE YOU!" Every time God asked me to let go of one thing that maybe I wanted to hold onto a little longer than I should have, it's always been because He had something even better, more fulfilling and more precious for me waiting up ahead!

However, before we can truly grab hold of any, and all, of the new things that God wants to do in our lives, we really have to let go of the old things that serve to only be a stumbling block. And it's a test of our faith. None of us like to be tested, really. But a FAITH that can't be TESTED is a FAITH that can't be TRUSTED!!!! Can't trust something that we haven't tested out first! When we start to sense that the Lord is leading us into new territory, unfamiliar territory, we have only two choices. We can either choose to righteously move forward in our faith, or "right-moving," or we can shrink back in fear, swimming WITH the current and go with the flow. What we need to remember that in times like these, it's that failing to trust God that always robs us of His best for us! I don't know about you, but I WANT His best for ME!!! Anytime I've swam with the flow of the current, MY best didn't compare to HIS best for me and learned some valuable lessons along my journey that I WANT His best for me! His best for me is so much greater than anything I can imagine! And learning to trust Him implicitly in some of the hardest, most difficult of times, has made some other people scratch their heads at how I walked out on complete Faith KNOWING it was the will of God, but not being able to explain it. Showing it sometimes conquers all the doubt though and I wake each day asking to be used and when you do so, it means you must be willing to surrender and do whatever, and go wherever, He calls you to do or say. However hard that may be.

Isaiah 43:19 tells us something so beautiful, "Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert." Also in Job 17:9, "Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger." The path is narrow and Jesus never said it was going to be easy. In fact He told us that He was hated and we will be also. But His promises for us He gave so that we could live them out fully in Christ! We can't move forward and righteously move if we are always looking back. We must look forward and see ourselves as the person Christ knows we will become regardless of our past. We are to be separate from the ways of the world and live as Christ did and that means swimming against the current, right-moving in His Will for us, and TRUSTING Him and practicing our Faith! The world should see the difference in us and through us. We aren't to be driven by our old desires and impulses. We must put on the new nature, head in a new direction and have the new way of thinking that the Spirit of God within us have given us. The renewing of the mind is imperative to right moving! Our thoughts oftentimes are listened to over the Holy Spirit! If our thoughts line up with the Holy Spirit and we listen closely for guidance, and WAIT to act, then it becomes easier and easier to find that strength to swim against the current and to find the Will of God for our lives!  Look to His Word for direction on how to live because it's very clear! Our attitudes and behaviors should reflect the Spirit of God that is in us, not the worldly lives around us. Don’t live as the ungodly do, because they are hopelessly confused by refusing to believe receive the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to reach out to those who are confused and lost, not become like them. Our approach will either repulse them or encourage them, plant a seed or throw it over their hearts. We need to let Him continue to transform us daily into the new creation that we ARE.

John 3:30 tells us simply put, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Wow, just how simple is THAT!?!! That's why I don't have lists anymore, other than my grocery list or maybe a to-do list for TODAY. Lists bogs us down and reminds us of failures. Failures present depression and defeat and defeat keeps us swimming with the current in the world around us. We're constantly to be righteously moving forward, growing in Jesus Christ and doing all we can to get the message of God’s love to others. Some are called to go out face to face, some are called to preach and some, as I am, are called to reach out through the written word! We have to make sure that we're living a life that reflects Christ’s nature to attract others to Him, to point others in the right direction. We need to fully understand that the Bible tells us to press on towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Even if it's a hard path, even if it takes us out of our comfort zone and even if we feel we're not well equipped. We're in a race for souls and we can’t go back and retrieve any time lost from the previous years. I want to live my life one day at a time, asking the Lord what He requires of me and how He wants to use me today. Tomorrow isn't promised to us! Seeking His plans for my life on a daily basis is sufficient because then at the end of the year, when most of us look over the events that had taken place, I won't be disappointed!

We aren't defined by what happens TO us, but rather by how we REACT to what happens to us! I tell others this all the time because as mere mortals with feelings and heart and emotions, we have natural tendencies to want to react less than Christ-like for sure! Is it hard to not react in our flesh!? You bet! But it is necessary to react to all of our circumstances and situations with the mind of Christ and react Christ-like! The Holy Spirit always gives us a warning in advance.....we either choose to listen to it or we choose to turn from that still small voice. I always tell people that there is ALWAYS someone looking on at what is going on in your life, how you are handling it and in the way that you are dealing with it when you are proclaiming to be a child of God. What we SPEAK, how we ACT, how we REACT all is a testimony to others about how good and LOVING our God is or it COULD send a negative message that God is judgmental and angry. We have a big responsibility to glorify our Lord in this fallen world. It's not easy, but Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us and comfort us.....

Right-Moving

God promised that He has a great plan for you, for all of us that are His Christ believing children. When there are things that you don’t understand, difficult events that don't make sense, difficult roads that you must travel, don’t let yourself get in what you DON'T know or understand because that equals FEAR. Fear holds us back. Things may seem like there are pieces missing to the puzzle, and that very well could be true! It's only in HIS timing, in HIS will, and for HIS glory that God has more puzzle pieces coming your way. Those new "pieces" to the puzzle just may be the right opportunities, the right people at just the right time, the right words spoken at the right moment, or the right journey for God's perfect Will. God’s timing is always perfect. Keep righteously moving forward because what you gain through the difficult path is, and will be, much greater than what can be attained TEMPORARILY through swimming with the current. One day you'll be able to look back and realize the beautiful masterpiece that God designed for your life. For all of His children's lives! We just need to have a deeper inner trust and faith, a renewing of our minds, and a confidence deep down in our hearts that reminds us, “God has a great plan for my life. I know He is guiding each step I take. And even though I don’t understand this, somehow, someway, He will work it out to my advantage.”

Our determination to choose "right-moving" over "forward-moving" can make all the difference between living a life of frustration, complaining and disappointments or living the abundant life that God has waiting for you. The longer you've been a born again Christ believer, the more, and better, you know that the Christian life is far from easy. And the trouble with easy, is it's quite often not RIGHT. It's EASY to go along with the crowd. It's EASY to be self-indulgent and careless about others. It's EASY to do what the world does, like the things, clothes, music, styles that the world likes. It's EASY to live like the unbelievers. Determination means that you fix your eye on Christ and keep it on him, despite detours and distractions. What pulls you off the path, whether it's Satan or your own choices, you'll probably never really know, but there are sufficient temptations to sidetrack you along the way. Determination helps you get back on the main line, heading toward God.

The model for DETERMINATION is found in 2 Corinthians, 11:24-26, "v24) From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. v25) Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; v26) in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;" Paul wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop him from his mission of spreading the Gospel. Don't get discouraged if you're not as strong or determined as Paul was, but on the other hand, you CAN compare your setbacks and roadblocks to his and fashion this statement around them and think, "If Paul can overcome those with which he came against, all with God's help, then I KNOW I can overcome my problems with the strength in the Lord and with the same power that God gave him."

Paul learned to rely on Christ for his strength. He couldn't muster what was needed on his own. Neither can you. None of us are. Our own is weak. Our own is selfish. Our own is not perfect. It's possible that God could show you that you need to change YOUR plans. He might require you to back off until He has time to prepare conditions for you. He might set roadblocks in your way to stop you from manipulating the outcome. When you're in His will and need determination to go on, He'll give it to you. Don't be afraid to ask for His strength and determination. Don't be ashamed of being weak because really, it's only when we acknowledge our weaknesses that we are the strongest in Jesus. It's when you ALLOW God to replace your weakness with His strength and His power that the victory will be won. His timing is crucial. Have you ever heard it said that "The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing." Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that, "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:" I recommend you read Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 for further understanding because the bottom line is in verse 11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."

Which one are YOU? Right-Moving or Forward-Moving? It's never too late to change the path you're on! God's plans for your life is eternal!


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