Open doors can be very exciting!
If you are running around town trying to get your 'list' completed and you're almost done and it's getting so close to closing time, and as you rush up to the storefront and discover the door is still open. . . a huge relief washes over you because you know this was the last chance to buy the last minute gift for your daughter's birthday that you're hosting in an hour!
We've all been there, in one way or another, and we all know that open doors are necessary for us to accomplish so many different things in our lives. In fact, as I think about it now, the vast majority of things require us to have open doors in order for life to be lived at all.
Need a haricut. . .need an open door. Need to get your car fixed. . .open door. How about that vacation? Pretty hard to fly or drive anywhere if the door isn't open to you. Desperate for a good night's sleep? Better hope the door to the bedroom is open for you.
But sometimes open doors can be really intimidating too, frightening even. I remember as a kid going to the dentist and dreading what was coming. That door was open too, and it wasn't a pleasant one! I can think of other intimidating doors too: Prinicipal's office; Bank loan officer. . .you get the point.
But I think the door that is most important is one we don't really think of as a door at all. It's the door that opens to the place of our deepest secrets and joys. It's where all our greatest fears and our most desired loves reside.
This is the door to our heart.
This door opens only with the most delicate care along with ruthlessly earned trust. This is the passageway that only a select few may enter and once in must always be diligent to walk and live with immense grace.
The downside is that every single person that has entered through someone else's heart-door has failed to sustain the necessary standard of love that makes real life possible. And when I say real life, I mean a life of true freedom because there is no fear of being hurt or betrayed.
Because every heart has been hurt, every heart deals with fear of it happening again. What's brutal about this whole scenario is that along with every heart being hurt, every heart deeply needs to be loved and to be free to love.
Someone needs to enter into my heart-door to help me. . .because I desperately need help in this.
Enter Jesus.
It's hard to open up the door to our most vulnerable place isn't it? We've all tried it, and we all carry the sting of times it didn't work out that well. But Jesus has this ability to walk into our broken and most needy places and He genuinely helps us to find healing and life. It says in Matthew 12:20 that even when we experience the battering rams of life, He will nurture us back to health. If our hearts have been burned and all that remains there is smouldering, Jesus will expertly and lovingly hold us and protect us in our pain.
I don't know where you are at today, but I want to encourage you to invite Jesus to walk through the door of your hurt. He will take it and make it into joy. It may take some time, but He is able and willing. And don't be surprised when He invites another person to walk in there with Him. . .to be a trusted friend. Be wise, but also, don't be afraid to accept these amazing gifts.
My heart is with you today, and I know that the One who made your heart is absolutely the best One to heal it. Let Him walk in. . .
Blessings friend,
B
