07 Oct Just Keep Moving

A few weekends ago we went hiking down the side of a pretty steep mountain. This picture doesn’t do it justice but it was pretty steep. We watched some other “young” (I mean… young is relative… they were in their 20’s) people do it and we were like “Oh we can do that!”

To get down, I had to carefully calculate every step and crab walk backwards — it was super fun. It felt challenging but easy to see how to maneuver down. We made it to the bottom of the mountain and found shells, climbed a bunch of rocks, took some beautiful pictures…

And then we had to go back up.

Even though getting down was challenging, I thought it’d be easier to get up. Turns out I was wrong. Climbing up didn’t allow me to see in front of me more than a foot or two. The shifty spots seemed harder because I had to keep moving to not loose momentum. If I stopped some of the shifty spots would start to loosen. About 1/3 of the way I almost started hyperventilating and my palms started to sweat (that was super helpful :/). I had to literally tell my mind to calm down –I came down this mountain and I could get back up. I had to just keep going even though I couldn’t see. It felt terrifying to keep going one move at a time not sure what was next.

And then I finally reached the top.

I felt super proud of myself and also breathed a sigh of relief.

I’ve thought about this experience over and over since it happened asking God what he was trying to show me. I kept thinking of so many times in my life during motherhood and marriage where I had still my mind but yet keep moving forward. Even though I felt frustrated, overwhelmed – I had to push past that feeling to start moving forward to a solution.

A journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step. MLK, Jr. said, “you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” This is hard for me, especially my planner self. It’s also hard because even with a plan sometimes things go wrong and you have to readjust or go down a different path.

I don’t think God ever intended for us to know everything at once. It’s part of how he moves and navigates us through a life of relationship with him. He usually doesn’t reveal His whole plan to us from the get-go. He may give us a small piece of the vision or just give us one piece of the puzzle, but we may not know the rest of the plan for quite a while, if ever. All He wants you to do is trust Him, have faith and take one step at a time.

The key thing here is we need to

keep moving forward.

In Exodus when Moses is struggling with what was in front of him, what God asked him and not knowing the next steps, God simply said to him in Exodus 4:2 “What is in your hand…” He then went on to instruct him to throw his staff on the ground. Moses had to walk in relationship with God to know each step but I think the biggest key I see here is the question of “What’s in your hand?”

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Over the years I’ve found that when I get stuck or am not sure how to move forward, I have to access what’s in my hands (what resources I have) and then move in the direction I feel God’s peace with. I don’t always get it right. It might not always work but the key is to keep moving, to try something, to not get stuck- to still the mind and heart but to push forward circumstances in life and shift things.

This has been a journey in my life through navigating moves, school options for kids, house organization, communication with my husband, extended family relationship etc. I find myself asking- “What’s the issue (mountain)?” Then I ask what are my options… and then moving in a direction with peace knowing that God will redirect me if I didn’t get it quite right….

In Job 17:9 it says, “The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.” I like this because it takes the focus off of getting it perfect and onto keeping our hands and heart clean. We might not always get it right but keep moving. Psalm 24:3-4 says “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart…”

God told Moses to use what was in his hands and go forward. You may feel stuck or overwhelmed by your circumstances, not knowing what to do but still your mind, consider your options and resources and don’t be afraid to move forward. Just keep moving “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)

Best~ Autumn