Was it the right door?
We got our sweet Winston Bishop as just a pup of maybe 12 weeks. Yes, he is named after a New Girl character. He was so tiny and small he nearly fit in your hand. He was also a very curious and energetic puppy.
One afternoon, as I was trying to quickly slip out the front door to leave, Winston jetted toward the door with the quickness of a lightning strike. I step out the door toward the car pulling it shut quickly behind me as to not to let our little guy out because he would run toward the street. That is when I heard the most gruesome yelp I had ever heard in my life. Then felt the door find tension on his tiny little body.
Sandwiched between the door and the frame was my tiny puppy. I was certain I had crushed his small ribs as he whimpered with the noise that crushed my heart. He didn’t know that there was danger behind the door. He didn’t know that the street was not his personal playground. He saw an open door and cracks of daylight and he was headed straight for it.
I was closing the door not to neglect him from the green grass but to protect him from the dangers just beyond the yard. He sprinted in hopes of green grass adventures and blacktop sprints. I closed the door in order to keep him safe.
Isn’t that a picture of us?
We see cracks of light in open doors and immediately sprint toward the sunlight. We think what is beyond the door is where we belong. And even believe that God, our Father, is one opening the door for us. We sprint toward the opening only to have it closed with us between the door and frame causing hurt and damage.
I wonder if some of our greatest hurts are getting caught between the door and the frame when we fail to discern the door properly.
If we are being honest, it looked like a really good door to go through. It looked like the perfect opportunity. It looked like the ideal job. It looked like a wonderful partner and future spouse. It looked like this was the answer to the prayer you had been praying.
Then bang. A closed door and you are caught in between.
A friend asked me a great question: “can it be God’s will and someone get in the way?”
Let me just say because the door abruptly closed, does not always make it the wrong door. Some doors God shuts to protect us. Other doors are closed in our face due to disobedience of human decisions. Humanity has free will. Sometimes our blessing is beyond the door that God is asking someone else to open on our behalf.
It may have been the right job. It may have been the right opportunity. It may have been the right school. And that door may still have slammed with you in the middle.
The challenge for each of us is to allow time and patience to help us to discern the door.
Winston turned out okay after a short session of puppy whimpers and lots of love and cuddles. Most of us too will be okay. It may take a moment to get over the smart of the door, but we survive and move on.
