Door Ajar

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. ~Alexander Graham Bell

When my granddaughter, Sarah Morgan, visits, I know the bird cage door will be closed soon after her arrival.  I get such joy out of watching her.  She cannot walk through the kitchen without latching the door. To Morgan, it's a door, and it should be closed. I reopen it when she leaves, knowing the next visit she'll close it again. (Bird is ornamental...!)

During my mundane dusting project the other day, I caught myself smiling about that door, when the thought came to me: How many times do I shut a door God opens?  Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth tells them, "I hope to see you soon [but] a wide door for effective work has opened to me."

How many times does God open a door for me, yet I look longingly at another? A barn door -- really, Lord?  I like the one with the brass kick plate... This door is rather plain -- Can you open the one with the antique door knocker?  

We worry about what people will think if our work is judged lowly. Or, we'd rather work behind the scenes where no one can see and judge.  We'd rather speak to the big crowds instead of spending our days offering grace one on one. We'd rather decorate than clean, write  than conduct a Bible Study, produce award-worthy roses instead of visiting the elderly to share a bouquet of fresh flowers, shop instead of sheltering, buy food instead of teaching others to can/freeze their garden's bountiful harvest.

Many years ago my husband, RB, sang in an oratorio guild.  A wife of another choral member asked me if I sang.  When I told her I didn't, she said, "I don't either.  When people ask me that I just tell them, No, but I can scrub a mean kitchen floor."  

Maybe God has some kitchen floors waiting on the other side of His  open door. Paul said God opened a door of effective work. As we choose the door of obedience, God places within our hands the tools we need.

Dishcloths of love

     Dustpans of joy

          Pens of encouragement

               Candles of light

                     Songbooks of blessing

                          Roses of beauty

                               Fabrics of peace 

                                    Textbooks of knowledge

                                         Diapers of cheerfulness

                                               Canning jars of opportunity

As we do our effective work, we find our cupped hands full.  Hands that offer grace one by one.  Don't forget -- God's greatest work is done through our obedience, through the acceptance of what we are called to, and through the offering of doing all to the glory of God. 

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Suggested Reading

I Stand at the Door and Knock by Corrie ten Boom

Filled Up, Poured Out by Mark O. Wilson

Linked to 

Spiritual Sunday

Soli Deo Gloria