An Open Door

I could not believe what I was hearing. I sat, willing myself to not get up and shout for joy while I watched it all unfold. Instead, I sat glued to my seat while God did what only He could.

See, I hadn’t expected God to open a door. Honestly, I hadn’t even gone into today hoping for an open door. I didn’t even think to pray for an open door on this day, although it’s been in my prayers over the past few months. But that’s just it — we never know when we will have an open door, so we need to keep knocking and be sure we’re prepared! 

First and foremost, I’m in awe that God lets us have a part in making His name famous. He doesn’t need us; quite the opposite, in fact —  we need Him. But He walks us all through a precious path of life, using what we go through as an open door to reach others.

But as you and I face our day-to-day, are we actively looking for open doors to make Him known?

Our open door came today while at an appointment for my son. I’ve prayed generally — for openings to be a blessing to others, especially since we’re sort of a fixture in the place, as we’ve been attending for over four years. But I haven’t always prayed specifically, at each appointment.

There’s something precious about that waiting room — no doubt it has been bathed in prayer as many parents, myself included, have begged God for an opening into our child’s life. “God, would you please open a door, even crack a window, so we can see inside his heart? Would you put us with just the right therapist who could impact his life?”

I’ve shared our family’s story with a number of therapists over the years. I’ve watched other moms walk into that waiting room for the first time, looking for some hope and I have tried to share hope — and Hope — with them. I’ve shed tears in that waiting room, more than once — maybe it was our story, maybe it was their story.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. I Peter 3:15a

The wonderful thing about my son — and really, all  of my kids — is that they don’t have a fear of talking about God. They haven’t been tainted by the world wanting to quiet their conversations. Rather, they have been blessed with a world of people who want to hear their voices, so it’s not unusual to find them talking about Jesus.

My son has a speech and language disorder and delay (among other issues). He can speak, but he struggles mightily with understanding the mechanics of conversation. He wants so badly to converse with people who want to hear from him that sometimes he will say things with such confidence that you cannot help but believe him, but his statements may not be completely accurate. It’s not that he’s intentionally being misleading — not at all. Rather, he knows the expectation of turn-taking in conversations, but doesn’t always know what to say. We have picked up on this and today his therapist did, too.

He sat there sharing about the Bible and a lot of what he was saying was spot on. Other things, though, were very questionable, like his statement that he read the entire Bible in 15 minutes. She and I talked for a few minutes and decided that we should work on teaching him how to substantiate some of what he says — it’s a great research tool for school, but it will go a long way in also understanding why it’s important to convey truth in what we say to others.

And that’s when it happened. Because my son had been speaking about the Bible and had been so eager to convey Biblical things to his therapist, she asked if we knew that she was of a different religion. I said that we knew, yes. Does my son understand the difference in religions, though? I’m not sure. Yes, he knows the basic differences, but has he internalized the fact that our beliefs are very different? I don’t know. And so she (being of a very different religion) suggested that he bring a fact about the Bible or Christianity to share with her next week, and some form of substantiation, because clearly this is a topic that he can speak about with great ease.

She, herself, asked for information on Christianity.

God worked to get that door wide open!

And we will work with our son to answer her request, and to answer it well. We’ll see what God does and where He takes this because, no doubt, it will be an ongoing conversation. Every therapist he’s had has reported that he’s spoken often about church, the Bible, Jesus.

Would you pray with us, that we will do our best to convey God’s goodness to someone who is so willing to listen? Lord, help me to learn from this, to keep knocking, to keep sharing with a world who so desperately needs you. When I forget, remind me that there are people who want to hear of You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. 
II Timothy 4:2

original photo source