The Myth of the Open Door
We’ve all said it. Maybe not in the exact words, but the sentiment remains. When we think about our lives and wanting to matter and having a sense of purpose, it always comes back to something like this:
I’m praying for God to open doors for me.
Is there anything wrong with this? No. Definitely not. The problem is that a lot of times we wait on these proverbial doors to open while ignoring the gaping entries already standing wide and ready for us to conquer.
What do I mean? Take me for example. Lately, I’ve been feeling impressed by just how much we need to share Jesus with this world. As a result, I’ve found myself praying for God to open doors (there it is) for me to share my faith with others. The problem is that I’ve prayed this prayer while walking through the halls of my kids’ school, while perusing the grocery aisle at my local Publix, and while sitting in waiting rooms at doctors’ offices.
While I prayed for open doors, I ignored the ones that were already open and waiting.
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me about how she invited someone to church after a moving conversation involving gluten-free cereal in the grocery store. It sparked a memory from my own life of a young, slightly embarrassed Lis who watched her mother pray for the florist at our neighborhood grocery store – right there in the store!
These things hit my gut like a slice of bad fruit cake.
While I’ve been waiting for open doors, God’s been waiting for me to walk through the doors that are already wide open in front of me.
And the thing is that I won’t be able to walk through those doors until I start letting God’s Spirit lead my day. When I’m too caught up in my own head and my own flesh, I miss these opportunities because they seem too mundane to be part of GOD’S GREAT PLAN. But maybe I’m the one who’s has a wrong impression of what God’s plan is to begin with.
Maybe divine intervention happens in the cereal aisle far more than it happens on a wide stage.
Maybe, just maybe, I need to stop believing the myth of open doors.
