Our social isolation will soon come to an end. During this time, we have experienced the cessation of forward motion. What was normal came to a standstill. That lack of felt movement and the accompanying sense of isolation can cause areas of personal dysfunction, not dealt with in the past, to rise to the surface. This surfacing of emotional and spiritual dysfunction is a gift for us because seeing is the first step in healing. 

While pondering what this all meant, I saw two ornate pillars in the distance. They were the gate posts positioned on each side of the way forward. Passage through this opening into what God has planned depends on what we are willing to leave behind as we move forward to engage our new and yet unexplored future.

We all need to take a moment to review what has transpired in this time of isolation. The spiritual and emotional quality of our interaction with people, our response to what has displeased us in this time of separation, and any demands we might have placed on others need evaluation. Did these encounters reflect God’s heart or our angst?

Finally, I saw that the two gateposts guarding the future were movable, not anchored in time and space.  As I tried to interpret what I was seeing, I realized we would need to stop and address what we might too easily ignore in our rush to return to a connected life.  Ignoring these issues will push the gate posts ahead of us, causing us to not pass through their opening into the new future God has planned. 

It will be too easy for some of us to think a new season of life or a refreshed ministry plan is to be our primary focus. It’s not. The way forward will open to us based on the condition of our heart, not a misplaced hope or the excellence of our re-engagement plan.