Until God Opens the Next Door...

...praise Him in the hallway

(Author Unknown).

I grew up watching, The Sound of Music once a year on television and it was there that I first heard the phrase, "When God closes a door, He always opens a window."  (...and I can hear the Reverend Mother singing, 'Climb every Mountain' to Maria right now, but I digress). But seriously, that saying about the shut door and an opened window has never been a comforting one for me. From it I have envisioned a very small room with one closed door and one closed window. It has made me feel trapped and a bit confused as to why God would open a window for me to 'walk' through instead of another door. Yes, it's more poetic than saying, 'When God closes a door, He opens another door,' but to the child that I was I received the literally meaning, not the spiritual one. So, when I saw this new twist on the old saying, it was perfect.

Right now I happen to be in a place where the proverbial door is shut and I am standing around waiting. I have been told to praise God in all things, to have joy in all circumstances, et cetera, but whenever I saw myself in a closed-in room waiting for the 'window' to open I grew frustrated. My eyes were forever on the window and tapping my fingers on it's ledge waiting for the smallest crack in it or breeze to come in so I would know that the waiting was over. But after seeing this picture of encouragement, I can't really explain it, I have a peace in this waiting season. I can see myself in a flowing white dress, ballet stockings and shoes and dancing in that long hallway praising my Lord while I wait. I get it now. Dance and praise Him while you wait and you won't even notice that the door is already opened!

Truly, when I saw the above picture I immediately envisioned myself dancing. Then as I scanned the picture I noticed that the door is already open! Did you see that? As we wait in peace and in praise, not having our eyes fixed on the 'door' to be opened in complete frustration, the door will open. The door will open because God cares about us and has a plan. So we can either wait in anxiety or in peace. I hope the 'window' or 'door'  will come to me like that-it slowly opens when I'm in the midst of a beautiful dance of praise for Him.

 For now I'm not going to worry about tomorrow, I'm going to sing praises to my God, who totally deserves all my praise, and dance unto Him. And I just bet I will have the company of three little girls dancing with me!

If you are in a time of waiting I pray that you will find a way to focus on praising the Lord for His new plan, for His love for you, and for His complete attention to all the details of your life. Remember, above all else, He loves you dearly.