Every Friday I join a community of bloggers for Five Minute Friday. One word prompt, five minutes. The prompt this week is … Forward.
The words have been heard often, “I just want this to be over!”. We all do. We want to move forward from what is to what will be.
Thinking of moving forward brings two thoughts to mind. The first is Psalm 84. Here we find the psalmist, obviously at home, looking ahead to a time he can take the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He writes:
“What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.” (Psalm 84:5-7, NLT)
God gives us strength to walk through. We do not get stuck in the middle or in any one place. He takes us through. The pain of the travel was endured as they knew, and anticipated, the refreshing times which lay ahead.
They grew stronger as they made their way through the valley. But their minds had to be set on moving forward and not giving up.
Forward can be defined as a movement ahead. One dictionary uses the word “onward” as a synonym. They synonym brought the second thought – the lyrics to “Onward Christian Soldiers” (< link included).
Being raised by a mom who knew the importance of instilling godly principles into her children, mom brought us to VBS every summer, sometimes to more than one.
A favorite one of ours was at Sister Signorelli’s, a small church with a big heart for children. We lined up and marched in singing the old hymn every morning for the two weeks of VBS, thus depositing the words to the hymn in my mind for life. The words came to mind this morning:
“Onward Christian soldiers!
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See, His banners go!”
May we move forward in every battle we face with Christ before us, knowing …
“Satan flees …
Hell’s foundations quiver …
We are treading where the saints have trod …
But the Church of Jesus constant will remain …
We have Christ’s own promise which can never fail … “(lyrics from other verses in the hymn)
And if you need a reminder of the song, there’s this one:
Thank you for Joanne for the reminder. I find a lot in old hymns so encouraging 😊 I will be singing onward Christian soldiers out of tune all afternoon. FMF #10 x
I joined you in singing out of tune, Loretta. But somehow I think it was beautiful to His ears!
I remember marching to OCS…oh so well!
I love that we both did!
Hi I love this – that quote from Psalm 84 is one of my favourites! We are all on a journey, and we certainly don’t want to get stuck in the Valley of Weeping, forward march, great hymn too!
FMF #5
Sharon, those verses bring me such hope and encouragement and are one of my favorites as well! Blessings!
Oh onward… good word. Reminds me of Narnia… onward and upward. Thank you for this reminder, when forward feels too daunting I shall think of onward. -Visiting from FMF #13
It’s amazing how synonyms expand our perception of a word and action. Blessings!
Oh, yes! I love thinking about the crisis as a pilgrimage! What a positive way to view our current situation. And I can’t hear “Onward Christian Soldiers” without thinking of my dad. He used to sing that song all the time – while working in the garden, fishing, or just playing with us kids. I used to have a friend who would come to my house and ask him to sing “the song” just to hear him sing with gusto. It would send us little girls into fits of laughter. Great memories!
Laurie, what a precious memory of your dad you have shared! May we keep moving onward in Him!
What a powerful reminder that with God, we are not stuck in immobility or helplessness. He will not leave us or forsake us!
Linking a recent post on Psalm 23, if interested!
When “I wish it all were over!”
echoes in my head,
I recall I’ll not recover,
and this ends when I am dead.
And yes, indeed, there are those
who pray for me to die,
to leave these earthly cancer’d woes
for a new home in the sky.
I used to get so very mad,
or make that, rather, ‘pissed’,
but now I just feel kind of sad
that I am thus dismissed,
and that some people think I’m through
when there’s still much left to do.
Andrew, you are surely making wonderful use of the time you yet have. And I for one, am most grateful!
Gods hand is leading us and Gods love supporting us. These words from a fave prayer are giving me such comfort.