Friday, May 23, 2014

"For those in the Hallways"

"When one door closes, another one opens." I wonder how many times we've heard that saying. 

It's interesting how many times we as Christians find our selves in the hallway standing just outside of the door that has just shut in front of us. As we look up and down the hallway we can clearly see the door that has shut in front of us, but way on the other end of the hall, what seems like 5 light years away we see not a door, but a veil. We know in our hearts that there is a door behind that veil, a door with far more than the one we just came out of, but in our heads it makes no logical sense as to why we couldn't have stayed in the previous room with it's air conditioned climate and cushioned couches. While we know that our best days are in front of us, and while we know that it was clearly The Lord that drew us out of our comfort and out of what has been known in the past, there is a part of us that has a hard time trusting that there is more for us and there is an even larger part of us that doesn't want to go through the dreaded 'process,' to get to that 'more'. 

But what if we had a different application of the word hope? What if we, every day, worked hard to remind ourselves of the promises and of the words that The Lord spoke to us in secret that got us out here in the hallway to begin with? I was talking to a friend yesterday about hope, about how I don't want to just feel hope. I long to get to a place where hope dictates all that I do because if I am completely overwhelmed by the joyful anticipation that something good is going to happen, I will constantly be moving towards seeing every promise I've gotten from The Lord fulfilled, won't I? 

Let me give you an example: I start training in a few weeks with a missions organization. I am passionate about the nations coming to know the fulness and the glory of The Lord and The Lord has given me several promises about my role. I believe the biggest way I will minister overseas and just in my life in general is through family. Family is one of my biggest passions and I believe that is is the most profound and impactful way to show the world the kingdom and our Heavenly Father. If I just felt hope for my future I would be tempted to sit at home, waiting for God to come to me, waiting for Him to open all of the doors, and consequently, drag me down the hallway so I could get to the doors to begin with. While feeling hope is great it doesn't really get us to act upon the promises that God has given us. 

But I long to be overwhelmed by hope, making it my lifestyle...where I am so sure of what He's said to me and I live in such anticipation of it, that in spite of being single and certain circumstances that say otherwise I am always moving towards my promises-joyfully anticipating that God will break in in the process. My friend put it like this, "It's (hope) as if you are walking around every unknown corner, not in fear, but in full anticipation that The Lord has good surprises for you as you turn. What will it be? What will it mean for my life?" 

I am gloriously terrified of becoming a missionary and beginning this part of my life 'by myself.' But I know that God's promises for me are good, so I joyfully move towards the fulness of what He has for me, knowing that He has good just beyond the veil. What will it look like? What will it sound like, feel like in the new room? I have no idea. But I am obsessed with this hope, with this anticipation that while it will take a different level of faith and trust to come into the room, that every moment of the process will be worth it.

So here we are, in a hallway. Will we choose joy and anticipation? Or fear and regret? Will we look back at what has felt familiar and shy away, or run with glorious terror at our futures, unknown and unseen just beyond the veil? 

It is my prayer that we would see that He is totally, completely and utterly trustworthy. There is absolutely no shadow of turning in Him, no thought in His mind to betray us, tease us or set us up for failure. It is my prayer that in this season we would run towards the unknown, holding our promises in front of us so that we don't forget what He's said about us. It is my prayer that we look beyond the veil, to the next door he has placed in front of us. And it is my prayer that hope would overtake us, causing us to move towards the promises we have on our lives, for the sake of the nations.