Thank God for the Locked Doors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank God for the locked doors,

closed opportunities,

unexpected blockades,

detours,

that unanticipated pink slip,

axle-breaking pothole,

dead end,

the traffic jam that made us too late,

closed road,

one point short of winning,

that missed call,

misunderstandings,

wrong answers, 

stumbling,

the one that got away, 

coming in last place,

an untied shoe,

failing grade,

wrong number,

the job that didn't fit,

late for the bus,

flat tire,

dog-eaten homework,

obstacle course,

______(fill in the blank.)

It is not just what happens, but how we respond that impacts not just our lives, but people for generations, some of whom we don't even know yet.  Not seeing these glitches as problems, but as divine appointments, sacred encounters, and the rendezvous of the holy, that literally alters the trajectory of our lives.

If that particular thing had not taken place, what difference did it make?  What did God make possible through it?  God does not intend for us to be swallowed up by regrets, but know that He redeems.  Not seeing these things as an excuse for our behavior or define our future, but as something to contemplate and be instructed by it.  As my late grandmother used to tell me as a little girl, "Sometimes we just have to trust the Lord about that."  And she would know.

No barrier too high, but sometimes it is, not to defeat us, but to turn us in a different direction, open another door, or enlarge what is right below our feet.  

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29. 11 

But we tend to skip the second part of that passage:  Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you.  You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 29. 12-14 

When we seek the Lord and trust Him right in the midst of the mess, God empowers us to not just see these things differently, but how to respond to them with a fresh heart and renewed mind.  How to approach, navigate, and .... sometimes wait.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time;  it hastens to the end -- it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it;  it will surely come;  it will not delay.  Habakkuk 2. 3   

The path, the outcome, the way through may not be ready yet.   Nor us.

There are no glitches in God's economy.  His faithfulness prevails past, present and future tense.

God redeems the hard stuff, the wounds, the pain, the aches, and wipes away every tear, because sadness always has another reclaimed, renewed, restored side to it.

God brings His victory to it, perhaps not quite in the packaging we expect. But far better than we could ever ask or imagine, even in our difficulties and struggles.  Not analyzing where we went wrong, or despairing of our shortcomings, but someday astounded by what God did with it. 

Our story is about to take a hopeful turn. 

Oh wow, God.  I didn't see that coming.