Falling Forward

So… The thought came to my mind yesterday… As I was sitting in my car at the grocery store, “can I make it to the grocery cart by the front door without my walker?” about 20 feet in to the 30 foot journey I got my answer… NO!

Pants ripped… knee bleeding… I found myself being helped up by a guy coming out of the store. I finally made it to the grocery cart… with  help from the same guy and was able to get what I came for. Now today… as I sit here nursing my softball sized behemoth on the side of my knee, the Lord gently nudged me to let me know this is all about “falling forward”.

Falling forward? What’s that supposed to mean? I’m really not into this falling stuff at all let alone trying to learn a lesson from it.

This voice in my head I’ve been learning to listen to seemed quite annoying this morning. But that didn’t stop Him from talking to me.

“Go back and look at the first two chapters of Judges I had you read this week”

So back I went… Here’s a brief synopsis of what I’d read…

Joshua’s dead. Caleb goes in and possesses the land given to him.  Marries his daughter off to the guy who helped him. Kills ALL the people living there (as he was instructed to do by Joshua).

Actually… God told both Moses and Joshua Israel was to go in and possess the land He had given to them. Which basically means, everyone living there has to go because you now possess it. So guess what happens? The rest of Israel moves into the land, but fails to drive out the inhabitants there, and decides to let them live with them… Not a good idea… And also not what God told them to do. Subsequently, they start worshiping their idols and inter-marrying with them.  Ugh!

I’m still confused at this point… What does this have to do with “falling forward”?

Then the last two verses of chapter 2 jumped out at me, “I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the LORD as their ancestors did.”

That is why the LORD left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.

Would Israel except their true identity as “possessors of the promised land”? Or would they fall back into their old identity of being slaves to the inhabitants they were living with?

So… This morning, the Lord asked me the question, “ will your fall yesterday cause you to fall back into your old identity of being a “klutz”, or will you stay in your true identity of being a “bold freedom fighter”? Falling forward, means you’ll stay in your true identity, instead of falling backwards into your old identity.

I guess I knew this, but I realized this morning there is a battle to be fought to maintain your true identity.… Something to possess… Something to drive out and kill the old inhabitants.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) reminds us, “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”

I’m thinking that’s why He called me His “bold freedom fighter” instead of His “soft freedom sofa sleeper.” From now on... if I fall… I’ll purpose to fall forward.