A Lesson From Forrest

 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:2)

Have you seen the movie, "Forrest Gump"? One line from that movie, "Run, Forrest, run", really depicts a heart of 'steadfast commitment'. One of the most amazing things he says is, "You have to do the best with what God gave you". God tells us to 'run', not walk, because idle hands make for way too much opportunity for compromise. Our 'walk' is to be steady - consistent and disciplined. We can barely crawl, stroll, or outright run this race - it is up to us to not have a whole bunch of 'false starts', though.

We are all probably a little guilty of making a whole bunch of 'false starts' in life. When I ran track and field in school, one of the things we were taught is how to use a 'starting block' to get ourselves in 'equal position' to begin the race. We put our feet squarely on the two blocks, fingers squarely positioned just even with the inside of the starting line, and our posture such that we were to spring forth onto the track. If you were a bit anxious to start, like I was, you might 'over-anticipate' the sound of the starter's gun. You'd jump forward and cross the line, but there was no real direction to start the race yet. That's a false start. God doesn't want us 'jumping the gun', he wants us in sync with his movements, but at the ready at all times to go where he leads.

Forrest reminds us, "You got to put the past behind you before you can move on." Some of our false starts are related to holding onto things in the past that get our focus off the present. Let go and focus - then you will be able to clearly hear God's direction. Some are related to us thinking 'ahead' of God, like when I jumped the starter's gun. We honestly have great intentions, but poorly executed plans. God has a 'grand plan' for each of us, complete with a whole bunch of 'mini plans' that we have to work through before we ever see the bigger plan coming together. We can get all caught up in how things aren't moving fast enough for us and jump the gun, too. Either way, we aren't running well - we are running, but just not as well as we are supposed to run. 

God may be asking us to put the past behind - so do it once and for all - holding onto it is just going to mess up our present and keep us from our future. God may be asking us to 'hold on' a bit until he gives us the direction to move - but when he does, we better be ready to go. God may be reminding us that he gave us all we need for the 'run' that is ahead - so trust him with the 'race' because he has already equipped you thoroughly! Just sayin!