06/13/2026
Forward Movement
Three of my four kids wrestle. A majority of our Winter is spent in a loud, sweaty gym, with our bag full of snacks. I love it!! And I hate it! Nothing causes a mama heart anxiety like watching your child wrestle with an opponent for points and a ticket to State. But, it is also very freeing to let out all your stress and anxiety by jumping up and down, smacking the mat, and screaming, cheering, or yelling at the refs.
You can hear all the parents yelling out, “Cross-face” or “Shoot”, sometimes “Pin!!!”. But one phrase that our team grandma (Mama Googs) uses is “Forward motion”. Meaning, keep moving forward.
In wrestling you want to be on your toes, in a stance that is leaning forward. That way you can snap, shoot, or strike your opponent to get them on their back. If one wrestler is moving forward with purpose, the opposing wrestler is either also moving forward against them, or being pushed back on their heels and about to lose their balance. If you are not continually in forward motion, the ref calls “stalling”. According to Google a stalling call in wrestling “penalizes a competitor for intentionally avoiding aggressive engagement or delaying a match.” Stalling can be backing away, pushing out of the circle, faking contact, balling up (just laying there in a ball not trying to get up), or stalling on the edge (trying to go out of bounds on purpose to get a reset). Stalling can cost your team precious points.
Things have been a little stressful the last few years over here. I am solo-parenting and between finances, raising kids, running a business, sports, school, etc. I am tired. It seems like every time I try to spend time in the Word, write, pray, or surrender everything over to God, it is peaceful for about 3.7 minutes and then BAM!! I get hit from the side and bulldozed with something else. But a few weeks ago the phrase “Forward motion” came to mind and I remembered Mama Googs yelling this during a match.
The children of Israel were running from Pharaoh and his army to escape the captivity they suffered in Egypt. One part of their journey brought them through a narrow canyon that opened up to the Red Sea. With Pharaoh and his army in hot pursuit, there were too many people in their group to be able to turn around and change course when they realised there was not a bridge allowing them to cross the huge body of water in front of them. It was too late, they were stuck. So in typical Israelite fashion, they started crying and complaining to Moses that he had brought them out of Egypt only to die by Pharaoh’s army. But Moses, being the spokesman for God, said to them, “Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:13-14 (NKJV)
In the next verse, God speaks to Moses, “And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” (vs 15-16)
Go Forward. Forward motion, Forward movement. Quit crying and freaking out and move forward.
When we get bulldozed in life, we stall, we freeze, we go stagnant. Stagnant means: “lacking movement, flow, or development.” Satan who loves to steal, kill, and destroy all our plans, relationships, and goals, is thrilled when something happens and we shut down and curl into a ball. He loves when we are ready to tap-out and are crawling our way out of the circle to give up. If he can keep us lacking in finances, then we spend most of our time worrying about how we will pay bills, feed our family, or fill our cars with gas. It takes our focus off of the one who provides all our needs. Stalling our purpose and His plans for our lives.
But God.
God then told Moses, “But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel will go on dry ground through the midst of the sea….” (vs 16.)
Where the Israelites thought it was a dead end and they were stuck, standing at the shore of the Red Sea with an army stalking them from behind, God opened a door. God opened a whole sea!!!……walls of water with a narrow dirt path dry as the Sahara desert for them to cross to the other side.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) says, “For God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
God does not want us to worry or fear. He doesn’t want us to stall or be stagnant. He really hates when we ball-up into the fetal position and give up. He wants us in forward motion at all times. He even promises to guide us while we move forward. He opens doors we can’t even see at the time.
Psalm 32:8 (NKJV) says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will guide you with My eye.”
I know things are sometimes hard. I am the first person to tell you I’m ready to give up at times. But don’t quit, don’t ever give up. Keep moving forward. The Lord will fight for you. And you shall hold your peace.
SJ
