The Hidden Doors
One thing that Jason and I enjoy doing during our time together is planning out our dream home. When I say "dream home," I don't mean the home that we envision having one day, but "dream" as in fantasy. We've planned and designed everything from 2,000-square-foot log cabins to 10,000-square-foot castles. To aid in our planning sessions, we find unique floor plans online or in inexpensive magazines. Then we redesign the houses to meet our own personal specifications and expectations. It's a lot of fun and an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.
In our myriad of ideas and home designs, a few things remain constant. First, we both enjoy an open floor plan, so that's a must. Second, we find a way to work in a recreation room, complete with pool table, air hockey, foosball and the like, for our church youth (and adults--who am I kidding?). Third, we plan for a music studio where we can both practice and record our musical talents (remember, this is fantasy, okay?). Lastly, we envision some form of office/library set up for me.
My favorite designs are those where my office and the grand library are connected by a secret door. Perhaps I've seen too many mysteries, but I love the thought of having a door that resembles a bookcase on the library side but resembles a simple wall on the office side. From the library, one can open the hidden door by pulling out a particular book. From the office, one simply turns the candelabra on the wall. I think it's awesome, especially in keeping my office private.
I am equally impressed with the hidden doors that I've discovered through life. Perhaps you're familiar with them as well--the money that came in unexpectedly, the job offer from out of the blue, the position you didn't even realize existed. All of them doors that we couldn't even see. Instead we were focused on the doors that we could see or trying to make doors out of windows. And while we were so desperately trying to knock down the walls in front of us, God was waiting for the perfect time to open one or more of those hidden doors.
I've experienced a couple of those doors in the past few days. First off, I was contacted by a Christian website that I had never even heard of. The e-mail stated that they had seen my site and were impressed by the way I wrote. They offered me a position (a paid position, I might add) on their writing staff. I wrote my first article for them last Wednesday and received my first payment this morning. As if that weren't exciting enough, I found out a little later that the administrator had looked through over two hundred Christian authors before finding my site, but once there, he decided right away that I was the one to fill the position. Is that God or what? I didn't know anything about this site or these wonderful people. I didn't know they were looking for writers. I didn't apply for a position. I didn't even know how to apply for a position. It was a hidden door that God opened at the perfect time.
Additionally, last week I received a payment for some royalties that I'd received for an article I had written a few years ago. To be honest, I had forgotten all about the article. I forgot that it was set up to receive royalties. So, when I received this payment through my Paypal account, I was confused. "Huh? What's this?" I looked into it and discovered it was just another hidden door, opened in God's perfect timing.
You'd think that would be enough, but God wasn't through yet. I received another Paypal notification this morning telling me that some wonderful angel had donated $25 to my ministry. Yes, I have a donate button on both of my blogs and my newsletter, but I can count on one hand the number of donations I've received through those buttons during the past six years of my writing ministry (not that people haven't contributed in other ways, mind you). The buttons are there, but I give them very little thought. Like I did with the article, I forgot that they were there. But, once again, in that perfect timing, God said, "Here you go, child. Here's another hidden door."
As I thought on this this morning, a particular passage came to my mind: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
(Ephesians 3:20-21) Exceeding abundantly above. He has doors for us that we know nothing about. He has surprises and blessings waiting around every corner. So why, oh why, do we keep trying to break down the barriers in front of us? If there's not an open door, there's a reason for that. God doesn't show us a closed door so that we'll try harder to break it down. Those closed doors are stop signs. If He wants to open them, He will do so in His time, but if not, it could very well be that He has something better waiting for us behind one of those hidden doors.
Be patient, my friend. Stop struggling against those closed doors. Trust in God and His timing, then wait for those hidden doors to be revealed. God will take care of it. You won't even have to pull a book or turn a candelabra. Just walk through and enjoy the blessings on the other side.