Falling Forward
I recently returned from a trip to the earthquake zone in Turkey. We’ve had members of Hope4Nations working in the area since the very beginning and I wanted to see the work and the devastation first hand. I had seen video and pictures, heard the stories, but nothing imprints the pain and loss more permanently on your heart than walking the streets and talking to the people effected. The magnitude of the disaster cannot be described in words or captured in pictures.
As I stood in the midst of the devastation, I remember thinking, “There was nothing anyone could do to save themselves or their loved ones.” The earthquakes happened in the early hours of the morning, while everyone was sleeping. I understood the overwhelming feeling of helplessness that must have fallen on those that had survived. 3 years ago we lost our twenty year-old daughter to a 4-wheeler accident in Texas while we were serving overseas. I remember the feeling that there was nothing I could do to help or prevent the loss of our little girl. We “fell” into our grief with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
James addresses this in James 1:2. He writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials….”
Sometimes we “fall” into trials, difficulties, and pain. We didn’t ask for it and we didn’t do anything that caused it – it was out of our control, but we still suffer the consequences of the action. In those moments we feel the overwhelming pain of helplessness. Many times, maybe most of the time, our helplessness turns into hopelessness. We’re inundated with questions of “why?” or “what could I have done?”
James doesn’t leave us with questions. In the same sentence he provides the answer. He says, “count it all joy….” That doesn’t make sense though. How can we count it joy when it was so devastating and out of our control?
The Greek word used for “count” (or “consider” in some translations) is the word hegiomai. It means to “govern, rule, lead.” This is the message from James: When you FALL into trials and difficulties that you did not cause, lead yourself into joy. Lead yourself into peace. Lead yourself to Christ. It’s not easy. It’s actually a process, a journey, of making good, but very difficult, choices. Happiness, on the other hand, is something that is based in our circumstances. We are happy when we can pay our bills, we are happy when our family is growing and succeeding, we are happy when things are going the way we had hoped they would go. We are happy WHEN….
Joy on the other hand is a product of our relationship with Christ. It is a product of making good choices, choices that don’t necessarily line up with our circumstances. James says that when we choose to lead ourselves into joy, it “produces” something in us. We could also use the word “builds” something in us. If you’ve ever built something, you know that it doesn’t just happen with a single word or action. It’s a process of growth. It takes time. It takes commitment and perseverance. That’s why James says if you will commit to the process it will build, produce “steadfastness.” Leading ourselves in joy when we “fall” into difficulties and trials builds character and a “do not quit” attitude.
Basically, it means that when we “fall” we are learning to “fall forward.” You will fail in life. Some of it will be of your own making, but some of it will be out of your hands. In either situation, you can learn to fall forward, not backward. You can grow from your failures, mistakes, and uncontrollable situations. But it requires leading yourself into something better.
The great thing about it is that our heavenly Father is there to help. It’s why I love the story of the prodigal son so much. The son made a choice. He committed to that choice and came home. He lead himself to the Father. The Father was watching for him – He had always been watching for him. Waiting for him to make the right choice. The story says “…when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him…the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”
This is our heavenly Father. He is watching for us to begin the process of returning. When He sees us, still a GREAT WAY off, He runs to us. He doesn’t meet us half way, He runs the greater distance. Once He has us in His arms, He restores EVERYTHING to us. He throws us a huge “welcome home” party and spares no expense in His celebrations.
All it requires from us is to choose joy, to choose peace, to choose HIM in the midst of our pain…every day.
That’s how we FALL FORWARD.
Peace.
