Gates

Gates.....one side is what you know. Where you are. The other side, filled with UNs.... the unknown, untried, and unpredictable.

Many reared in the country or out west, away from cities, know of the gates that are wired, latched, or tied shut. You have to stop your car, get out and take the wire loop off the upright on the gate. Then you grab and lift, and walk with the end of the gate to the side of the track. Go through, then get out and close the gate behind you. Some farms had multiple gates, and you prayed you'd have a passenger so they could manipulate the gates for you.

Some know the newer gates that open only when you run the truck or car over the springs under the ground plate, right up to the gate and then the gate swings open. The key is just driving right up to the gate, having faith that it will swing open. Those are a lot easier, but a lot of the older, get-out-and-work-up-a-sweat gates are still plentiful.

Seems as though I've been running into gates quite often lately. Some are man-made, some are mental, some are to keep others out and us in. Some are locked, some can be pushed open easily, after the flip of a hinge. And some still take a lot of hard work.

I've come to the conclusion that one either opens the gate and takes the first step onto the other side, summoning determination, leaving the old path of the human heart, or stays on this side of the gate, mired in the stuff that keeps us stuck.

If you're guided to a gate, I suspect God might be giving you an opportunity to practice a little faith, a mustard seed faith, and once you've taken the first step, there will be some direction, a path or an open road. Or an answer. All that's required is a spirit of openness, and a willingness to trust Him.

Deep breath. I'll go first.

h/t RCM