Open Doors

As I was leaving work the other evening, I held the large heavy glass door at the entrance of my building open for an older lady that was leaving at the same time.  The lady literally stood there and did not move.  After what seemed like an eternity, but was more like 3-5 seconds, her blank stare lifted as she smiled and said,”I forgot that people still did that. I can’t remember the last time someone held the door open for me.  Thanks!” 

I was then perplexed.  How did this ordinary act of respect and kindness become so “unusual”?  Have we become so disconnected and self-absorbed that common courtesies are no longer common?  Have we lowered the bar as a society so much that we only act on those things that are of benefit to us?

Sadly, some of us approach our encounters with our Heavenly Father the same way that this lady approached her encounter with me.  She had very low expectations.  We can get so caught up in our circumstances, our weaknesses and our experiences with people hurting us that we project our pain and flawed human responses to our pain on God.  God cares for us.  God is concerned about us. God wants to bless us as we live according to His will.

Psalms 106:3-18 (MSG)

He forgives your sins—every one.

    He heals your diseases—every one.

    He redeems you from hell—saves your life!

    He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.

    He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.

    He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

^6-18 God makes everything come out right;

    he puts victims back on their feet.

He showed Moses how he went about his work,

    opened up his plans to all Israel.

God is sheer mercy and grace;

    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.

He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,

    nor hold grudges forever.

He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,

    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.

As high as heaven is over the earth,

    so strong is his love to those who fear him.

And as far as sunrise is from sunset,

    he has separated us from our sins.

As parents feel for their children,

    God feels for those who fear him.

He knows us inside and out,

    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.

Men and women don’t live very long;

    like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,

But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,

    leaving nothing to show they were here.

God’s love, though, is ever and always,

    eternally present to all who fear him,

Making everything right for them and their children

    as they follow his Covenant ways

    and remember to do whatever he said.

Psalms 103 spells out the many ways that God loves us and has demonstrated that love.  He forgives us…He saves us…He knows us…He redeems us….He renews us etc. 

In a world that attempts to get us to minimize God, we must maximize our expectation of the impact that interacting with Him will have on our lives.  He loves us more that we can imagine or think, so He wants the very best for us.

God is standing there holding doors open for us.  How long will we stand there mystified before we step through and give Him thanks for caring enough about us to “hold the door open”? 

Raise your expectations by maximizing your awareness of God’s Love in action in your life!!! It is much easier to walk through a door that God has opened than to try to open a closed door or to create a door on your own.

Be Blessed!!!

B