I remember watching a television game show called “Let’s Make a Deal” hosted by Monty Hall when I was a little girl.
The premise was that the contestant had the opportunity to win a nice prize if he could guess which of the three doors held the prize. He had a chance to win a car but he might end up with a goat if he chose the wrong door.
We sometimes feel like we are in the same situation. We have several opportunities before us and wish someone would tell us which door to choose in order to get the prize we seek. So we ask God for guidance.
Problem is, God’s idea of the prize and mine is often very different. It might just be that the goat IS the prize. It’s seems easy to ask God to direct me in choosing the right door but sometimes I’m not particularly pleased with what lies beyond the door He opens.
And sometimes He chooses to close a door that I didn’t want to see closed. Does it require more trust to move forward through a newly opened door or to allow God to close the door behind me and lock it?
Last week I received news that could change some things in my future. I learned that I have something called Dupuytren’s Contracture, a condition in the hand that causes the slow contraction of the fingers. The fingers bend toward the palm of the hand and cannot be straightened. What I thought was a simple surgery for trigger fingers has turned out to be something much more difficult to manage.
Is the door of “normal” going to close behind me with the new development? Will I lose the ability to do the things I love like quilting and writing? Can I trust God to change the way I view the future? Can I trust that His plan for me is still good?
I have crossed a new threshold. Not sure of the outcome. I know God can heal and I know He can cause me to not lose the use of my hand. but what if he doesn’t? I got pretty upset about the possibility of losing the use of my hand. But what if it was my sight? or my hearing? What about something even more important, like my family? We can’t really rank what we would find more difficult to lose. I don’t think God wants us to spend time on that. What He wants us to do is trust that He has already figured it out.
We are quick to ask Him to open doors and close doors as a way to direct us in our walk through life but are we really willing to trust his choices? The sacrifices God asks us to make seem too big sometimes.
So here’s my question. What if God places a new door in front of you and you are only allowed to walk across the threshold if you are willing to let the door behind you close and seal forever? No turning back. What if everything you love is behind you and the future is unsure?
Are you willing to walk through the door if all you’ve acquired and all you’ve accomplished is behind you and only Jesus stands before you? Could you allow that door behind you to slam shut forever and believe that Christ alone is enough?
Can you believe that Jesus is the prize and nothing else can even come close?
Philippians 3:7-8 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.
God has used a couple of songs lately to draw me to himself. I include them here and hope you are blessed as well.