Closing the Door

My husband and I still live in our big house where we raised 4 children. Not only did we have our 4 children here, but we had several dogs, and a variety of other people's kids who were here all the time. More often than not, there would be messes in the rooms because of all the critters and people that were here. But that was simple enough to fix. I'd just close the door. Voila! No more mess staring me in the face! Ultimately, the closed door would need to be opened and cleaning would need to happen, but the closed door was a temporary start.

As our children grew up and moved on, we added different dogs to our house. The one that lives with us now liked to "baptize" everything in sight as a puppy. So, we closed doors to keep him out of various rooms so we could keep an eye on him, and so that not every room in the house would be filled with his doggy gifts. If you come to my house today, you'll still see closed doors along the hallways. Closed doors can be very good things.

And that's something God is working with me on right now. He's closing a door to a chapter of my life that has been very difficult. For years, I've lived in the heartache of what's happened. Just recently, God gently told me that it's time to close the door. And He began all of that by reminding me what He's done. I've seen Him work in the ordinary, day-to-day things. I've seen Him change hearts, change me. I've seen Him restore, resurrect, reconcile and redeem. He can be trusted to complete what He began.

Closed doors can be scary things too though. Once I close the door, will the monsters stay behind it? Are they still lingering there, just regrouping? God shows me that once we close the door, it's closed. I can't keep staring at it, wondering if all of this is going to continue happening. I can't be afraid of that door and what's behind it. Instead, I close the door, and I turn away from it. I turn away from it and look to Him.

Honestly, I don't think that this means the path ahead will all be harp music and roses. It's not always going to be easy and comfortable. There will be new monsters that show up. There will be difficult climbs and thorns along the way. But, it's not like He's just given me a road map, or a detailed set of instructions and then left me to fend on my own. He's given me the best gift of all -- Himself!

I won't be walking the road ahead all by myself. My Heavenly Father will be with me each step of the way. It's not a blind leap of faith that's ahead. Oh, I fully acknowledge that I don't know what lies ahead. That's the "blind" part. I don't see all the way down the road. But, it's not a blind faith in my Father that takes me. It's a faith that has seen His miraculous works, it's a faith that has seen His great love, it's a faith that knows Who He is. I can leave the closed door behind me and leap into the arms of my God, knowing His arms are stretched out for me, that He is trustworthy. He has proven it over and over and over again.

So today, I close that door. I leap that leap. There's no better place to be.