"What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." Revelation 3:7
In the fog between slumber and wakefulness where my mind is caught between the images of my dream and the reality of the dawn, the surrounding silence is broken by the imposing "meow" of my Maine coon cat. Pulling the covers up to my ears, I roll to one side showing my back to that cat, with hopes she'll get the hint and simply settle down for at least one more hour. But in the world of cats, there's no such thing as giving into the desires of their human masters and so her ensuing "meows" contest my sleep, only satisfied with my complete consciousness and tending to Her Majesty.
So arise, I do, to search her out and understand her insistence. Her coat is cool to the touch, so I know she's just returned from her night prowl. Her plate I find licked clean, so food isn't her desire. But, there she stands, in front of a closed, bedroom door begging it open.
Three other doors are open wide in that hallway, two of which held the warmth of sleep in their beds. "Why so persistent on this closed door?" I ask as I obey her command. Into that now opened door she prances, her furry hind legs wiggling away from me in pure defiance only to promptly turn around and walk back out the door! Finally, she walks through the open door to my daughter's room and settles next to her where she stays for hours.
What is it about closed doors that makes even us humans curious? What makes them more appealing than the ones that already lay open before us? Is it that we pray the possibility of our greatest imaginings might exist behind them? Is it that we don't like what we think we see from the thresholds of the open doorways? Do we assume what lays beyond an open door before we actually step inside?
Maybe, it's a matter of control. Sometimes what we see through those open doors is not what we pictured our opportunity to be at all. So, thinking that God got it wrong, we stand in front of those closed doors with our ensuing prayers begging God to open them. Luckily, God does not give into our begging like I do with my Maine coon cat. He leaves us to struggle in front of that closed door until we become frustrated enough to finally walk through the one that lays open down the hallway.
God says in his Word that we cannot open the doors that he shuts and we cannot shut the doors that he's opened. Although the sights from the thresholds may not appear to be what we imagined or hoped for, God has a plan that suits us best.
So arise, I do, to search her out and understand her insistence. Her coat is cool to the touch, so I know she's just returned from her night prowl. Her plate I find licked clean, so food isn't her desire. But, there she stands, in front of a closed, bedroom door begging it open.
Three other doors are open wide in that hallway, two of which held the warmth of sleep in their beds. "Why so persistent on this closed door?" I ask as I obey her command. Into that now opened door she prances, her furry hind legs wiggling away from me in pure defiance only to promptly turn around and walk back out the door! Finally, she walks through the open door to my daughter's room and settles next to her where she stays for hours.
What is it about closed doors that makes even us humans curious? What makes them more appealing than the ones that already lay open before us? Is it that we pray the possibility of our greatest imaginings might exist behind them? Is it that we don't like what we think we see from the thresholds of the open doorways? Do we assume what lays beyond an open door before we actually step inside?
Maybe, it's a matter of control. Sometimes what we see through those open doors is not what we pictured our opportunity to be at all. So, thinking that God got it wrong, we stand in front of those closed doors with our ensuing prayers begging God to open them. Luckily, God does not give into our begging like I do with my Maine coon cat. He leaves us to struggle in front of that closed door until we become frustrated enough to finally walk through the one that lays open down the hallway.
God says in his Word that we cannot open the doors that he shuts and we cannot shut the doors that he's opened. Although the sights from the thresholds may not appear to be what we imagined or hoped for, God has a plan that suits us best.
Always meant to ask, Where do you get your cool pictures from? A variety of sources? Love 'em; they enhance your blog so much. I really enjoy the pics along with the writings.
ReplyDeleteHey Wendy ~ I go to Google and do a search for free illustrations based on what I'm looking for. That simple.
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