One of my volunteer roles at a recent seminar was to open the doors at the start of each session to allow the participants to enter. As strange as it seems, this simple task pointed out some life lessons to me.
There were two main sets of doors to enter the training room. Line-ups formed at the closest set of doors, while the other set, just steps away, had few people using them. I realized that the majority of people follow the crowd. The ones that bypassed the line-up and walked to the second set of doors shook their heads in disbelief that so few thought to do this.
The metaphor was not lost on me. I wondered how often in life I have waited in line, following the crowd, when I could have moved ahead quickly if I’d taken the time to look for another open door.
The second thing I realized is that there is usually a reason for closed doors. In this case it was because there were preparations for the next session going on behind those doors. That’s why participants were asked not to enter until the doors were opened for them.
I thought of the many times in my life I’ve been frustrated because the door I wanted to walk through was closed. Perhaps the closed doors were there because I had more to learn before I would be ready to go through them. Maybe I was trying to do too much in my own strength rather than waiting for guidance from God.
All I know for sure is that the plan is not my own. My job is to be aware of the doors before me and learn from both the open and closed ones. I have faith that God will open the right doors for me as I walk closely with him and pay attention to his leading.
The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act.( 2 Peter 3:9 GWT)
