Close the Door, But Not So Hard
Thursday, November 21, 2024
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 2 Cor. 4:15, NIV.
When I was a little girl and my mother wanted to teach me not to slam the door, she would often make me open and close the door and say out loud, “I will not slam the door closed.”
This memory for some reason came to mind when I hung up the phone after being told I had a breast lump that would need immediate surgery. I asked God why He was slamming the door on a new job and move I was about to take.
I was absorbed with my private memory for only a few minutes when I heard a page for another outside call. It was the adoption agency with a boy, and my husband and I had been matched with him. I had three days to decide and commit to taking him or turn down the opportunity.
That afternoon I talked a long time with my husband. As we spoke to the social worker and held the child’s picture, we knew we wanted him. But what if God wanted to slam another door?
The surgeon was most reassuring and positive. “I’m sure everything will turn out fine, so don’t put your life on hold just because of this. If you want to adopt, then do it, but it probably would not be a good idea to move and take a new job in the middle of an unknown health crisis.” I knew what he was saying was true!
I had the surgery, and we adopted Christopher. As I was leaving the surgeon’s office on my return postop visit, I overheard him telling another patient not to worry. “I am sure everything will turn out fine.”
I thought to myself that maybe this woman would be as blessed as I have been and discover that just because one door slams doesn’t mean the hand of God won’t open another.
None of us likes to have doors slam on what we want to do. But I’ve learned God holds our lives-and the doors of this world-in His hands. And He never shuts one door without opening another. Why then should we worry?
Thank You, God, for knowing which doors in my life should be closed, and for opening the ones that You know are best for me.
When I was a little girl and my mother wanted to teach me not to slam the door, she would often make me open and close the door and say out loud, “I will not slam the door closed.”
This memory for some reason came to mind when I hung up the phone after being told I had a breast lump that would need immediate surgery. I asked God why He was slamming the door on a new job and move I was about to take.
I was absorbed with my private memory for only a few minutes when I heard a page for another outside call. It was the adoption agency with a boy, and my husband and I had been matched with him. I had three days to decide and commit to taking him or turn down the opportunity.
That afternoon I talked a long time with my husband. As we spoke to the social worker and held the child’s picture, we knew we wanted him. But what if God wanted to slam another door?
The surgeon was most reassuring and positive. “I’m sure everything will turn out fine, so don’t put your life on hold just because of this. If you want to adopt, then do it, but it probably would not be a good idea to move and take a new job in the middle of an unknown health crisis.” I knew what he was saying was true!
I had the surgery, and we adopted Christopher. As I was leaving the surgeon’s office on my return postop visit, I overheard him telling another patient not to worry. “I am sure everything will turn out fine.”
I thought to myself that maybe this woman would be as blessed as I have been and discover that just because one door slams doesn’t mean the hand of God won’t open another.
None of us likes to have doors slam on what we want to do. But I’ve learned God holds our lives-and the doors of this world-in His hands. And He never shuts one door without opening another. Why then should we worry?
Thank You, God, for knowing which doors in my life should be closed, and for opening the ones that You know are best for me.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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