Doorways
Thursday
“When one door closes, another opens
...." ~Alexander Graham Bell
"When one door closes, God opens a window." ~Unknown
I am not a big subscriber to those two thoughts. I think doors are shut for a reason but we like to cut out our own doors and windows to escape the very place God wants us to be.
Why do we always need to escape the place we are in?
Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
When I was a child we moved every time life got too tough for my mom to handle. She would get all excited, talk about her new plans, our new opportunities. The house would be new, the job would be different but nothing changed. All of the baggage from life was packed in our boxes and moved right along with us.
Maybe, doors close or never existed because we are suppose to be exactly where we are. There are things that need to be taken care of before we can move on. There are times we are called to be still and know our God. As it says in Hebrews 12 there are a few things that need to be done in order to run the race He has prepared for us.
February 15, 2009 at 5:41 PM
I believe I understand what it means to be hungry in many senses of the word; there were times when I was raising my son that were pretty lean. Sometimes I did not eat so that he could. However, the true hunger I experienced was that when I felt hopelessness for perceived desertion both by God and by man, in the dark recesses of my problems, feeling "back to square one" in my spiritual walk.
Even Mother Theresa noted that Americans and Brits are the most starved people in the world when it comes to love and relationships.
She commented that she had never seen such a dearth of caring for others even in one's own family as here. That is pretty significant, considering that she spent most of her life ministering to "the poorest of the poor" in places like Calcutta, where people are literally dying of hunger and thirst in the streets every day.
How do we respond to the needs of others like unbelievers, etc, or many times even within our own families?
As articulated in the sermon today, many times we are lulled to sleep by plunking down into our comfort zones to the point of complacency. In Proverbs, it asks us how long will we sleep, that not even blows to our bodies wake us up. Of course, in the proverb, it is addressing drunkenness, yet can this not apply to the drunken state of complacency?
I want to ask myself as well as others when am I willing to radically love the way Jesus did so that hunger and thirst for love and wisdom will be satisfied?