When the Door Opens

I felt invincible. I had begun to move past the pain of my divorce with my newfound running effort. One Sunday while training for the Disney Marathon, my first, I did my long run, eight miles, and then I spent the rest of the day pulling up old carpet in my bedroom. Next morning, I stood in the shower and turned my neck and suddenly I felt a popping sensation and couldn’t move my neck. It hurt to turn my head. I was thankful to be able to get an appointment to see my doctor that day. I recall the long wait at Walgreen’s while my prescription was filled for the muscle relaxant my doctor had ordered. He also ordered several weeks of physical therapy.

That night I had a Bible study to attend, and I didn’t really feel like going. As I sat in pain next to my friend, Susan, I told her my story of overdoing it and now I was in this distressing state. I told her I hoped a verse would come my way to get me out of my gloom. Our Bible teacher began her discussion of the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation. Jesus gave the disciple John messages to various churches and that night we came to the church at Philadelphia. The message went like this: “I know your deeds. Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied my name.”

The teacher stated a little power was all they needed because the word that is used there in the Greek is dunamis which is God’s power. It’s the word, she said, from which we get our word “dynamite.”

My friend turned to me and whispered: “I think you have your verse!” An open door . . . my running. A little power . . . but that’s all I needed—just a little bit of God’s strength. Those were words that spoke to me.

I got past that injury, and I returned to wise training. If God keeps that door open, I will continue to run, dependent upon His power.

Here is a story with a similar idea that you will probably recognize.

There were four children who lived in London during the Blitz, when Germany bombed nightly. These children were sent by their parents to the home of a professor who lived in a large home out in the country. They were fascinated with the many rooms and on a rainy day decided to play a game of hide and seek. Lucy opened a door and saw a wardrobe. “What a perfect hiding place,” she exclaimed. She opened the wardrobe door and pushed through the clothing to the rear of the wardrobe. She found herself pushing against the back of the wardrobe and discovered it was snowing. Then she realized she had pushed through to the outside, but it was a different setting than what she had seen before. She was in a magical place called Narnia. Yes, it is the story of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” by C. S. Lewis, the most popular book in his Narnia Series. I love this story!

I think of this as the story of our lives—we can feel at times kind of like being in a wardrobe smothered with coats. We can’t see clearly. It’s dark. Life can feel stifling, or scary, or mystifying, or lonely. But then, we push through all the coats and discover the “wardrobe door” that ushers us into a different land. To me, that land is the realm in which the Holy Spirit can enliven our lives with God’s presence in ways we never expected.

In talking with a counselor friend about this idea of looking at this moment and its potential, he gave the following points.

 -To look at this moment with expectancy.

 -Each moment has its own possibilities.

 -God is at work. He doesn’t rest.

 -God is standing there waiting for me to open the door—that’s every moment!

John penned another letter to a church with these words of Jesus—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” What an invitation!