Stepping into God’s call means leaving behind our former way of living. As pandemic phasing happens acrossour country we want to embrace the significance of this time as a church. If we endure this pandemic, butnever encounter God’s presence refining us through it, we will have wasted this time. Because God’s presenceshapes our present realities. And in this season as we’ve watched idols fall we are given a clear picture of theone thing that remains: Him. Our ears had heard this, but now our eyes have seen it and we are never goingback. We are never going back to who we never meant to become. To pride in what we can accomplish andin making it on our own. We are never going back to what never really worked in the first place. To livingexhausted out of our own power when He has given us the power of His Spirit. We are never going back tosuperficial answers and surface-level relationships. We are never going back to chasing American dreams thatlimit God’s plans, power, and provision. And while we are at it, we are never going back to running fromwhat is hard and to living crippled by fear. We are never going back to old routines and old ways of living.Looking to the future means never going back. And we as a church want to step into this season whollysurrendered to what God will do next and fully engaged in the hard and holy work that is ahead of us. This isour stake in the ground. This is our hearts cry. This is our invitation. We don’t want to waste the significanceof this season- we are never going back.