a 'no' is as good as a 'yes'

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

Alexander Graham Bell

I have been on a journey of discernment for the past several years. I knew that something was coming but I didn’t have lots of clarity. I was excited when I began to see some signs that pointed me in the direction I was to go. But then, something painful happened that I could not make sense of. What seemed to me to be a part of the journey suddenly was no longer available. Not only was it removed, it seemed it was working against me. It took me a long time to figure out that this ‘obstacle’ was indeed a gift.

Recently, one of my friends went through a similar experience. He has been part of something meaningful to him for a long time and discovered that he was no longer a part of it. At first, the sting was hurtful. But on reflection he realized that perhaps this dismissal was also a gift.

We can become so focused on how we think God will work, only opening the doors we are to walk through, that we forget how He can also close doors to change our course. Sometimes that happens to make room for the new, sometimes to protect us and sometimes to remind us He works in ways we don’t expect nor always understand. Many times I think He does it because He knows we are creatures of habit and we would settle. We cannot even begin to fathom all He might have for us so status quo is just fine.

When life seems to hand you what on the surface appears to be a closed door, relax into God and trust that He holds it all. The loss of a job, loss of a opportunity, loss of a ministry, loss of a dream, loss of a relationship, even the loss of a community….is not only the end of something but it is possibly the beginning of something new – a change in direction – that will have so much more for you than you could have ever hoped or imagined. When we can view ‘the obstacles’ or the losses in this light, we can leave behind the frustration and the ‘what ifs’ and begin to look for the ‘what’s next’. God loves us and when we are fully trusting Him we will see the love, care and even direction He has offered to us in the pain and disappointment experienced when we encounter closed doors.

Grace and peace,
Deb

Photo by Xploiter http://www.flickr.com/photos/xploiter/3161899795/