What is movement? It is self-motivated action based on intrinsic goals. It is the desire to change what is into what could be.


As a young boy, small and skinny, I learned a hard lesson playing backyard football with my older brother and his friends. I could catch the ball well, so I was allowed to play wide receiver. My brother’s friend, who was playing quarterback, told me to go out about ten yards and hook to the left. I was so excited just to be on the field with my big brother and his friends. I ran the play, and the ball zipped into my chest. I stood there amazed that I had the ball. SMACK!  The guys tackled me so hard, my little body slumped onto the grass while my insides stayed up in the air. Lesson: move.

I was not going to score a touchdown by standing there holding the ball. The result of standing there was pain – and lots of it. This little story is a great example of what many people do everyday. The adage goes, the ball is in your court. In tennis, when your opponent hits the ball over the net, it is literally in your court. If you stand there watching it, you will lose. So many people are standing there watching the ball of life bounce past them. A wonderful opportunity comes along, and the person stands there in amazement, meanwhile the opportunity dribbles past. Or a painful incident occurs and the person remains sad and even angry. That lack of movement is deadly. Others stand there waiting for the ball to come when it’s there already. And when that person doesn’t see the ball, the advantage is lost.

I was talking to a friend who, every time he mentioned his father, his eye twitched and voice shook with rage. His father was not a good man, verbally abusive and mean. But because my friend never moved on, the memory of his father’s misdeeds was holding him in back from a full life. There was very little joy or happiness, although he always said he was doing well, his talk was negative and angry. He hadn’t moved from the place of his father’s meanness.

Over 3,000 years ago, history tells of a man with a speech impediment, most likely stuttering. This man was asked to not only be the spokesperson for the entire nation, but also to advocate for all the three million people to the dictator who held them all in slavery. When approached about this position, the man stated, “I can’t speak well at all. Isn’t there someone else?”  He eventually went on to lead this tribe out of slavery. See, Moses understood movement. He understood that simply because he was in one situation with certain limitations didn’t mean that he couldn’t move into a new situation without those limitations.

What is movement? It is self-motivated action based on intrinsic goals. It is the desire to change what is into what could be and the purposeful actions of the subsequent feats to make it happen. It is the attribute of successfully attaining what has been imagined. Motivation is affected by how people think about past and future events. The beginning of movement, then, is seeing your future as both attainable and real. It is also shedding any past that is dragging you down.

The self part of movement is the notion that it is only you who can change your life. Even if you won the lottery, your habits and perceptions and beliefs would remain the same. If you received the massive promotion, your thoughts and feelings would remain the same. Only you, your self, can truly change you. As much as your family and friends may want you to succeed, it is not in their power to make it happen. No matter how much God wants you to prosper, only you can make it happen.

The motivation aspect of movement is that which drives you to do a thing. You are motivated to eat when you are hungry. You are motivated to buy flowers for your spouse because you love her. You go to work out of a desire to make money to put food on your table. Motivation is inspiration to act, whether in jubilant verbal expressions or financial giving. Motivation is an inner desire, a prodding from within your being that spurs you on to do something.

Action speaks of doing. This may be physical exertion or mental exercise or spiritual accomplishments. It denotes a difference in the state of being prior to it. Action is not remaining the same. If I hammer in a nail, it reveals that the nail was not already set in. Even if I simply look at the nail, I am acting. I am not remaining as I was prior to looking at the nail, for now I am looking at it while before I was not looking at it.

The goals are the targets at which you shoot. To hit the target implies you are looking at it in a fashion indicating focus and attention. The goals are objectives that are intended to prod you onward to attain their fulfillment. People get in their cars with a goal in mind, whether it is to go to the store or simply to enjoy the beautiful summer day. Intrinsic means that the goal is created from within and thus the reward is internally derived. I play with my children because I want to demonstrate my love to them. My reward is that I know that I have expressed my affection for my kids which permits me to believe that they know that I love them.

If you are viewing your life and you desire change, then it’s time to move (self-motivated action based on intrinsic goals), time to pursue that which you want to be. Don’t become content with your current reality. Move onto greater things. Move into greater revelation of God. Whatever you decide to pursue, just get moving!

Answer the Call Ministries
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