In the Spirit, I saw a long sheet of plastic that had been placed on a grassy slope to reduce friction and increase the speed of those descending the slope. The slide had become a form of recreation. I saw someone line up to take their turn sliding down the slippery surface. As this person began to slide downward, they had a look of increasing exuberance on their face. They were all smiles shouting out their increasing enthusiasm in their descent. 

As this person began to increase their speed, hands reached out to stop them. Those extended hands were people who saw what was waiting for them at the bottom of the hill. The person pushed away those intervening hands not wanting their exuberance to be interrupted.

A collision would come because the person had allowed their exuberance to blind them regarding the context of what they were doing and what was waiting for them at the bottom of the hill. The people trying to reach out and save this person saw a large rock that had been placed at the bottom of the hill that would severely injure the person on impact. The Lord sent rescuers to try to stop their descent toward personal disaster. Ignoring, even pushing away those warning voices, would be to their peril.

We need to be careful about allowing our emotions to lead us, especially in this moment of Church history when people are ignoring what is coming and refusing to accept a warning from their rescuers.  This is happening in our nation and within the Church in increasing measure where emotion, not facts and truth, is leading many toward an unnecessary collision with a harsh reality. 

In Galatians 5, Paul described self-control as one of the fruits of the Spirit. It is that fruit that allows the rest of the fruit to mature and manifest in our lives. Self-control should motivate our response in all things, especially when our emotions want to lead the way, causing us to ignore what awaits us at the bottom of the hill of our assumptions.