4 Doors That Are Not Locked
Hiking along the Friendship Trail at Chickasaw State Park in West Tennessee about 11 years ago, I was grappling with all sorts of resistance.
My mind swirled in furious fashion due to a number of significant life challenges. My wife’s health was still quite poor; my job was good, but paid little; and everything seemed like a struggle. For over an hour, I shuffled along the trail, oblivious to the beauty around me. I prayed, I brooded, and suddenly…on a wooden walking bridge in a valley, deep in the woods, two deep truths burst through with enough clarity that I stopped in the middle of the bridge.
There is grace for you. The door is not locked.
The noise in my head stopped. Silence. As I took in my surroundings, hints of the first greening of Spring on the trees, the cool, moist air of the morning, squirrels scurrying through the leaves, I received. I breathed in this refreshing gift.
There is grace for you. The door is not locked.
When you feel like nothing is going right, you can’t catch a break, and all you sense is judgment and resistance, the notion that there is grace for you comes as a baffling, yet welcome message. Overwhelming.
There is grace for you. Grace to do what you need to do. And grace to clean up the mess you’ve made. Grace to move into a new era, a new season. Even to become a conduit for grace to other people.
There is grace for you. Receive it.
Standing on that walking bridge, watching the water trickle over a mini-waterfall, imbibing the refreshing Spring morning air, this revelation in 2007 led my thoughts towards doors that were not locked. I thought they were, but it turns out they were open. We’ll ease these doors open over the next four weeks.
For now, close your eyes, release your grip a bit, and receive: there is grace for you.
Worth Repeating
For me, every hour is grace.
-Elie Wiesel
