God Opens and Closes Doors

This past week has been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least. But there's one thing that has stuck out with every up and down. There's one thing I can't get out of my head. A big part of Faith is trusting that God will open and close doors for us. We feel lead to certain things, we feel empowered by different things, we feel pulled in multiple directions and just overall certainty about specific things. But our Faith steps into play when we feel sure that God has placed us where He wants us. When we're positive that God has opened up a door, an opportunity, for us to flourish and do His work there. This can be a tricky subject, because there are times we pray and pray and hope for our own interests to come to fruition, only to be torn when it doesn't happen. When we reach out so much time and effort into trying to obtain worldly things, such as homes, cars, jobs, and material objects. We can lose sight of where God is trying to use us. We can even get MAD at Him for denying of us of what we so want. But, why? Why are we losing ourselves to something so minuscule in the grand scheme of things? Because, we're human.

It may seem impossible as you walk along your journey, to think that you are NOT in control of your life. There may be plenty of times that you feel like you have a really good grip on things. Or like your choices have been spot on. You have an idea of how it is supposed to be. Everything's bee-bop-ing along and then out of nowhere you are SLAMMED with change. It can be one small change, it can be your entire world turned upside down. But the bottom line is something changes. Our worldly instinct tells us to freak out, tells us to lose control of our emotions, to ask questions, to sink into depression, and to not understand. And after a week of facing all of these scenarios and more, I've learned something. Isn't that fascinating? I'm faced with life change after life change in a span of a few days, and yet I still didn't let it defeat me. I GREW.

It's not possible to see this when you're going through it. It's just not, nor will it ever be. It's only possible to see and understand all of this once you've came out the other side. Looking back on the situation, you can see that yes, God did open that door for you. You were exactly where you were supposed to be, and then there reaches a point where if you are going to continue down His path for your life, that He has stop you in your tracks. We have to watch for this, we have to expect that this will happen periodically. It might be short times, it might be years later, but it will always happen. Because if we only ever stayed in the exact same place, with the exact same challenges, that wouldn't be a challenge at all. There would be nothing there to grow us. We'd have nothing to learn from and reflect on.

This is God opening and shutting doors for us. Placing us where He wants us. We have to remember that He sees the big picture, all the time. He sees our plan for our life like we can't. He knows our next move, our future that He has planned for us. But remember, we are human. We don't always listen like we should. We're stubborn. We're hardheaded. We're resistant to change, because it's uncomfortable. But He still nudges us. Time and time again, trying to shut old and open new doors. And the times of complete upheaval come when we don't listen. When we don't pay attention to the signs leading us to it. It's then that God often SLAMS the door to get our attention. Which confuses us more. Why, oh why is this happening? And the 'but's' begin. When you're going through it, it's hard to see the next step. It's hard to picture it ever getting better or our understanding of the situation. And then all of a sudden, we remember. We are NOT in control. We may be doing the work and living our lives, but we've got focus on the fact that where we are is where He wants us. We have to remember to pray for His will to be done in our life, no matter the circumstance or how uncomfortable it may be during transition. If he opens, closes, or SLAMS a door shut...that is OKAY!!

It's having Faith that we are right we are supposed to be, all the time! Trusting that can turn a bad day into the best day. I hope you can find comfort in knowing that even if you are walking through something uncomfortable or confusing, that when you reflect back on your life you will see that it was all part of a bigger plan that God has for you. And know that you are NOT alone, everyone around you is walking their own paths, dealing with their own doors opening and closing.

-Stephanie