I love to watch the ocean. Blues and greens all the way to the horizon creating an ever-changing border between earth and sky. Waves bolting towards the beach, rising up, doubling over and tumbling onto the sandy shore. It’s always a wonder to behold.
And it’s always different; it’s never the same. The ocean moves continuously. Blown by the winds, disciplined by the tides, adjusted by the seasons and currents, there’s always movement.
Movement.
As I was gazing at this marvelous wonder the other day, I heard that word — “movement.” I had been reflecting on some memories of long ago and feeling somewhat forlorn when that still small Voice said, “You can’t go back; you have to move forward.” It’s good to remember the past and reminisce, but the past is past; we have to keeping moving forward.
Acts 17:28 says: “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” In Him we move. We cause to go, set in motion (kineo—Strongs). We aren’t supposed to stay the same day after day, month after month, year after year. We’re supposed to be growing, moving, changing, and developing. Improvement doesn’t happen without movement! (That’s tweetable!)
Matthew chapter 25 is an interesting study of movement. The virgins who had vision for the future brought extra oil and trimmed their lamps; the three servants who were given talents, two of whom “moved” and invested it while the other one didn’t. What a great loss to him! And near the end of the chapter, Jesus said when we have fed, clothed, and taken care of the sick and those in prison, we have done this to Him. Do you see all the movement in this chapter?
Now I’m not promoting “works” by any means. I’m completely grounded in resting in Father’s love and learning to be still, but just like the ocean, life never stays the same — there’s always movement.
Life affects us in a similar way as the ocean is influenced. The question is, will we move forward with the motions around us or will we try to buck against the winds and tides. Seasons change, the earth moves.
There’s movement in our minds, our bodies, our jobs, our children, our marriages. Growth happens — or it should. I want my mind to stay fresh and alert; I want my body to stay healthy and strong; I want my job to challenge me; I want my child to grow up well; and I want my marriage to forever be moving forward as we grow older together, but none of these things will materialize out of thin air. I have to move! We have to move. Search for ways to train your brain, search for some form of physical exercise you like, search for ways to improve ourselves, our jobs, and our marriages. Endless books, podcasts, teachings, conferences, and the world wide web are at our fingertips full of more information than we can handle.
Life is full of movement. Are we moving with it? Are we taking the steps to adapt to new environments, new circumstances, new people, new places? I may not like or agree with how things are moving, but movement is a necessity of life. Stagnant water gets contaminated. I want to grow, to change, and to flow as freely as the ocean does. I want to move.
(photo is from Playa Azul, Barahona, DR)