Behind Closed Doors
The door was closed so who knew. As I opened it, the evidence was all over the floor. A little critter had discarded shells and was now nowhere in sight. Clean-up was all that remained.
Closing the door and pretending I hadn’t seen it was tempting. You know what they say, “Out-of-sight, out-of-mind.” Mere seconds before, all appeared to be fine. In fact, it was more than fine. I’d been excited, motivated if-you-will, to switch things up in the house. It had been with a smile upon my face and a bounce-in-my-step I’d opened that door.
Now, not only did the pile before me need to be swept up, but traps set, and my mind reset.
There was just no pretending that what was behind that door did not exist.
I suppose at some point in our lives when we open a door, it’s not going to be exactly what we expect. That’s just how life goes.
Dating on the internet might be a case-in-point. You just never know what the reality is until the one behind the screen shows up and time is spent together. The falsehoods of reality shows might be another example. After all, it’s taken me a while to understand my husband cannot do a complete home renovation in one hour even though it appears everyone else in the world seems to get-er-done accordingly.
Remember the show where contestants could pick door #1, door #2, or door #3? Didn’t we hope the music would foreshadow something wonderful upon opening the door chosen? Maybe the tin can on display had a $500 dollar bill hidden within. Maybe the trip traded for the grand prize would produce something even better. I could barely watch as some gave away the goods and walked away with nothing. Some danced back to their seats with a skip in their step after having lost it all, while others seemed to grieve wide open for all to see.
As I looked at the task of sweeping up the shells before me, I decided that better than not knowing what was behind that door… was knowing. After all, you can’t clean up a mess unless you know it’s there. This article could go in many directions. You choose. Choose your mess and choose your door.
Will it be Door #3 where you want to just shut it and pretend it doesn’t exist? Will it be Door #2 where you are not quite ready to sweep it up so you toss a little more garbage on top and instead of one mess you now have two or three to clean up? Or will it be Door #1 where you are ready to hand it all over to the One who knows how to not only clean it up, but how to make all things new?
Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” May you not only knock but continue to seek. Amen.
