Now call me desperate for analogies if you like, but the moment I saw it, I thought of something I wanted to share with you. Sometimes our circumstances are a real mess—about as attractive as that pile I saw. Things appear to be chaotic or depressing. But right in the middle of it all God has posted a sign that says “free door.”
In my book, Mind Change, one of the key principles is that in every situation there is a right and spiritual way to think. That is another way of saying that whatever our circumstances, God always provides a “free door” that can be opened to lead us to a right and better way of thinking. In our most confusing and difficult moments we can find something God promised or something Jesus said , or just Jesus himself, who can take us through the difficulty. And it is free, a gift of his grace. Thanks be to God for free doors.
Focus Scripture
John 10:1-10 NKJV
1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me[a] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Makes me think of 1 Cor 10:13
ReplyDeleteThere's ALWAYS a way out, God's promise.
I just have to look for it and open the door.
Thanks Tom,
Jeff N
Back when I was in college I had my wisdom teeth removed. I was a long, tough surgery so I was under anesthesia for a long time. I had a bad reaction (or I was overdosed - hard to say since I wasn't being properly monitored)to the anesthesia and I almost flat-lined. While the doctor worked on trying to revive me I had and out-of-body experience - simultaneously being able to see what was being done to me and being pulled into "the light" (which was like being in an all white room, but there were no actual walls you could see, but I remember a feeling of peace and warmth). At one point I felt and heard a voice telling me it was time to choose a door. Then suddenly 3 doors appeared before me. At first I didn't want to make a choice because I was so comfortable where I was. But, the voice told me that wasn't a choice, but which door I chose was my choice. During this time I kept switching back and forth between the watching what was going on in the dentist office and then standing in the white room in front of the doors. Just as I saw the doctor begin in inject me with a syringe (according to my mom, who was in the dentist office at the time, that was actually the 2nd injection of epinephrine he was giving me, since the first wasn't enough to bring my blood pressure and heart rate up) the voice told me "Choose now!". As I stepped through the middle door I awoke in my body in the dentist chair and sat bolt upright (the doctor had also just given me a whiff of smelling salts!) and I saw the look of relief on everyone's face. But because I sat up too quickly, I passed out again, and once again was in the room. I thought "What happened, I was through the door?!" The voice asked "Are you sure that's the door you want?" I replied, "Of course that's the door I want, I was back in my body!" The voice then said "Very well then you may go back through, but make wise your choice." At the time I didn't quite understand what had happened and what that last quote meant. But it definitely started me on my journey to truely seeking a relationship with God (up to that point I went to church because my friends did, but I wasn't really feeling a connection with God) that would eventually send my 3000 miles away from home to Massachusetts, where I was eventually met by a brother in the Boston church who invited me to bible talk. A week and a half later I attended bible talk, invited myself to church with the group, then accepted Melanie Pollard's invitation to study the bible. 2 1/2 weeks later I was baptized!! And to think the journey starting by stepping through the "Free Door", and "making wise my choice".
ReplyDeleteMichelle Johnston
Tucson, AZ (Tucson City Church of Christ)