Falling Forward
Falling forward
I land at YOUR feet
YOU lift my head to see YOUR glory
YOU pull me up so I can stand
I fail and fall over and over
YOU surround me LORD with YOUR Love
I lean further into YOUR Mercy
YOU hold me steady upon the ROCK
I’m falling forward again and again
YOU are my source of strength
Keep me moving falling forward
Pull me deeper and deeper into YOU
Running, stumbling and falling forward
I lean into YOUR Love
YOU always catch me and hold me firm
I pray I’m always falling forward
Falling forward into YOU
– Original Poem by Mark Tursi
Proverbs 24:16 For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
If both the righteous and wicked fall, what’s the difference. Let’s look at the definition of the word ” calamity” that’s in this verse.
ca·lam·i·ty – an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.
synonyms: disaster, catastrophe, tragedy, cataclysm, adversity, tribulation, affliction, misfortune, misadventure
Does any of that sound familiar? We all face calamity , tribulations and adversity. So again, what is the difference between those walking with Christ and those not. Let’s see what the New Living Translation of that verse says, maybe that will shed some light.
Proverbs 24:16 – The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
What is GOD telling us ? That you will have tribulation and HE will be with you. That HE will help you up everytime. Yet , those without Christ can be overthrown with only a single disaster. Thank you LORD for your love and mercy. I know without YOU I would have been finished long ago.
Let’s see if the King James Version of this verse will shed some more light on this.
Proverbs 24:16 – “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”
Mischief – why was that word used in this translation ? Let’s look at the definition of mischief.
Mischief – playful misbehavior or troublemaking, especially in children.
synonyms: misbehavior, mischievousness, misconduct, disobedience
Disobedience especially in children , sound familiar? We are all prone to disobedience, both believer and non – believer. The key word again is falls. Falling into disobedience. Therefore, falling into disobedience is the problem. We all fall, but where do we fall? Do we fall at HIS feet, do we fall forward into HIS love? Do we fall back into our old ways, do we fall into willful habitual sin and disobedience. The non-believer falls into disobedience by his mere denial of JESUS and his denial of a need for a Savior. We as believers can fall into the love of JESUS. HE lifts us to our feet over and over. The fact that HE loved me in my wretchedness enough to die for me is amazing enough , but the fact that HE continues to love us despite our weaknesses and mistakes , is hard to understand. Would we all be as gracious after we helped someone? This exact subject came up in my small group this week. I think we all realized how little grace and mercy we have compared to JESUS. For us, watching someone we poured into or helped blow all of the time and energy we invested in them, was hard for us to take or even understand. JESUS gave us and continues to gives us so much more, yet never gives up on us. HIS mercy and love is unfathomable. We as believers just need to keep our eyes on JESUS. That way when we do fall, it will be forward into HIM.
Pray I’m always falling forward; Falling forward into YOU
-Mark