About five years ago, I began having dreams from the Lord, each one carrying a common thread woven through it.

It was always a river.

I was always in a river, jumping into a river, or standing near a river. Through these moments, God was revealing something to me about the age we are now stepping into.

Over the past six years, being in ministry circles and observing how different ministries function, I’ve noticed a tension a push and pull between production and flow. Between producing something and being led by the Spirit.

As I’ve reflected on these dreams and visions, one thing has become clear: the river was never just a setting. It was a symbol. A reminder that I was designed to live in the flow of His Spirit.

Every time I’ve tried to place myself within a rigid system where everything must be done a certain way—the result has always been the same: internal chaos and unrest.

But the more free I become…
The more untethered I am from systems, methods, and man-made expectations…
The more I find myself flowing effortlessly in the river of His Spirit.

When I look at Scripture, especially the early Church, I do not see rigid systems.

Do I see order? Yes.
Do I see organization? Yes.
But do I see rigidity? No.

And yet today, many expressions of ministry seem consumed with outcomes reaching a plateau, achieving a result, or becoming something.

But this mindset is inherently flawed.

Because the beauty of union with the Lord is not in arrival it’s in flow.

It’s in living, moving, and being in Him.
In flowing with Him through every moment, every space, every season.

A Dream That Changed My Understanding

I once had a dream where I believe I was watching the span of the church age.

I saw vehicle after vehicle drive up. People would step out, grab wheelbarrows from the back of their trucks, walk to a river, fill them with water, load them back into their vehicles, and drive away.

At the time, I didn’t understand what I was seeing.

But years later, it became clear.

This is how ministry has often functioned.

We create vehicles; ministries, organizations, systems, and we go to the river to “collect” something. We gather what we believe is the presence of God, package it, and carry it into the places we feel called to go.

And when we feel empty, we return to the river for another encounter—another filling—so we can go out and do it all over again.

But this cycle reveals something deeper:

We have forgotten that we are the vessels.
We are not meant to carry the presence we are meant to be filled with it continually.

The Shift Into a New Age

What the Lord began to show me is that we are stepping into another age—an age not of carrying, but of being.

The age of the river.

In this age, there is no need for a vehicle to transport His presence because we live in constant union with Him.

As it says in the book of Acts:

“In Him we live, and move, and have our being.”

This is the invitation to flow in tandem with the Spirit of God.

To become the very expression of His life, His power, His grace moving through us.

We are the fruit He spoke of.
The grain of wheat that fell to the ground and bore much fruit.

Understanding the Tension

So when you look around and see ministries struggling or even collapsing, understand this:

This is not simply disorder.
This is not the world unraveling.

This is transition.

Some time ago, the Lord gave me a message called “The Tension Between Two Ages.” And what we are experiencing right now is that very tension.

We can feel that something is shifting.
We know something is changing.

But we don’t always have the language for it.

And I believe that’s intentional.

Because He is not looking for us to define it, systematize it, or contain it.

He is not inviting us to build a new structure to hold it.

Because it was never meant to be held by a system.

It was always meant to be held by you.

An Invitation

So in this age of the river…

Live freely.
Love freely.
Flow freely.

Let go of the need to produce.
Let go of the pressure to arrive.
Let go of the desire to define what was never meant to be contained.

Instead fix your gaze on Him.

Be transfixed by His presence.

And let the river of His Spirit carry you.