Well then...7.31.2025

     “Well then…” These words can be uttered in a variety of contexts and can disclose a variety of different mindsets. They can potentially be positive, negative, or even a neutral response to different contexts. The power of these words is that they assume that we (you and/or I) are moving on to the next thing. Whether we have triumphed, been defeated, or simply find ourselves moving along. We can say “well then” and figure out what is next. 

    There are various times and seasons of our lives that are significant “well then” moments. Some of them are biggies. Consider graduations, marriages, and new ministry opportunities. These are moments that are points of closure as well as beginnings. These are the moments when a considered “well then” helps us to consider what we will do, where we will go, how we will act, and whether we will be changed or not. The young graduate, candidate for ministry, or bride who does not think anything is changing is in for a rude awakening! A deep breath, a considered look to the future, and a pause with a “well then”, helps the person transitioning to adapt with purpose and determination rather than just letting things happen to her. 

    Saying “well then” to ourselves, a colleague, a friend, our even our spouse is a reminder that even the end of significant moments of our lives also serve as beginnings. As we adjust to the wedding band, hang the diploma, or get acclimatized to new surroundings we are given the opportunity to look at this new situation with fresh eyes. Learning from our mistakes but leaving them behind, we can lean into the future with hope, purpose, and determination. 

    I have often found in my life that the very next thing that I say after a good, heartfelt “well then”, is a reflective “now what?” The key to considering what comes next is clarity about where you have been and what you have accomplished. You can’t really inhabit “now what” until you are absolutely certain that you have finished what came before, paused through a period of “well then”, and are prepared to invest your time, talent, and treasure in “now what”. I have found that quite a bit of personal failure comes from not allowing enough time to ask these pertinent questions, in the right order, with sufficient patience. I am reminded of the following passage:

“Philippians 3:12   Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14 ESV)

This is kind of a “well then”— “Now what” text. We pause with Paul to reflect. We join him in considering who we are in Christ. And we consider what is to come in our journey of faith. Though he documents this process in this text to the Philippian Church, this kind of pause before proceeding lies at the heart of successful Christian living. If there is no pause to reflect on the past and prepare for the future, if past and present merely collapse onto one another we will grow restless and unfocused. We need those moments. We need to look back and put the past “to bed”. Say “well then” and move on to the next thing. It is hard to say, “now what”, and to move on to the next thing when we cannot let the last thing go.