Recently, I watched a video about a new elevator system. Traditional elevators move people up and down between floors. This new elevator adds another function. It can also move passengers side to side, laterally between floors. This up and down, side to side movement cuts down the wait time for passengers because the elevator’s computer can assess the demand between floors during peak use time.

For the last few months, the Lord has been speaking to me about becoming spiritually agile, able to move laterally. People of faith can become trapped in ways of thinking that are up and down – always linear – without considering that a lateral move might be what God desires. 

There are times when we need to move sideways to align our life with a new direction before we move forward in a straight line. I think the elevator designers were somewhat prophetic. Linear movement and straight ahead thinking can make sense to a mind trapped in tradition or logic. Jesus was a master at lateral movement. When people expected Him to move in one direction, He moved in a way not previously considered.

Listen carefully to the Spirit. He may ask you to take an elevator of faith that at first seems like it is moving in the opposite direction from the expectations of your tradition or the mindset of a particular group. Trust His leading. If you are willing to do this, you will find yourself arriving at new and unimagined destinations of Kingdom enterprise before the waiting crowd who took the elevator of assumption and missed God’s timing and ultimately, His intended destination.