The image was a bit shocking. I saw someone walking across a stage. They were speaking to an audience. They were in the middle of making a presentation when all of a sudden the entire stage background and all the stage props crashed down around them. The performer stood in a cloud of dust having lost the context in which they had grown accustomed to when speaking. They stood stunned, frozen on stage as the debris settled in around them.

Not only was the image shocking it could also produce fear if the person performing did not know the motivation of God’s heart to allow such a crash to take place. The loss of what the performer had come to rely upon was actually for their good to help them recall how beautiful and simple it was in the beginning. The crash was an invitation to return to a simplicity lost in their success and the expectations of other people. The crash was an invitation to begin once again, but without all the accumulated clutter that added nothing to the message of their life.

As the person stood on the destroyed stage frozen in disbelief at what had just taken place, stagehands appeared and began removing all the debris and sweeping off the dusty stage. After a few moments, the performer stood alone on a simple stage without any of the familiar backdrop or props. They only had their voice. When the performer began to speak, they picked up the dialogue at the point where the crash had interrupted their message. As they began to speak, a fresh anointing fell on their words. This renewed place of simplicity and purity allowed them to focus with precision on the word of the Lord in a way that had been lost amidst the increasing complexity that appeared over time on the stage of their life.

If your life has crashed down all around you, stand still and wait for the stage to be cleared of the debris. This will be a turning point for you. Don’t try to rebuild anything.  What crashed is not what God wants you to carry into the future. When you open your mouth on an uncluttered stage, your words will possess a new level of authority that only a simple stage can provide.