In my mind’s eye there are rooms, doors, and hallways. I go to each room, one by one, the hallway eventually leads to home. To eternal rest.
The doors are always there, but you have to go to them in the order you are told, because you learn something in each one that is needed for the room after, until you’ve obtained and strived all you can and are able open the last door. The door to heaven.
When I enter a room, I stay for a while, take on the triumphs and tragedies of this level, learn a lesson, and grow stronger. It’s never easy to conquer each room, but when I finally do overcome whatever happens to be in there, I feel an unction to leave that room. Only when I’ve completed my task can I leave back through that door, and when I do leave, I shut it behind me. I can choose to lock it and destroy the key or carry the key around with me. Once I have the key to enter that room I have the option to keep it. If I fail at the next room, I will always have the option of going backwards if I so chose to.
The hallway I come into is plain and uninteresting, yet there is a reason for it too. It is here I rest for a short amount of time. It is here I wait for the next unction. I could be in here for as long as would take to conquer a whole other room, but if I do not get the word on which door I should enter next and enter into the wrong door, I could mistakenly go back into a door I’ve already been in and have to fight the battle all over again, or I could go into a place where I’m not equipped to go and would’ve wasted my time only to get wounded and discouraged. Once I know which door I should enter, each one opens in a different way. Each has it’s own code, it’s own combination of gifts and talents, sacrifices and disciplines I have to combine into one to obtain the key that opens the door. Sometimes the codes are easy to decipher, and sometimes the door opens all by itself. Other times they are difficult to decipher and I could spend a countless amount of time just trying to go through.
Right now, I’m back in the hallway. I feel the end of this time growing near, creeping agonizingly to an end, soon I will know which door is next. I’ve fought the last battle and came out with horrendous battle scars. I didn’t keep the key. I haven’t kept any keys for quite some time now… Even if the unction leads me back to it and I must go through it again, it’s him that led me there, not of my own choosing. I haven’t been doing this alone, you see. God has led me to each door, helped me decipher the codes, celebrated with me, rewarded me, fought the battles alongside me, and talked with me about what I learned and showed me how to use what I was given.
My mind is overwhelmed with thoughts of when I get to the door of my next room, my next level. I feel God telling me he won’t open this next door for me. He won’t be unlocking it and turning the knob for me. He’ll lead me to the door and tell me that I already know the combination. But the previous room has left me exhausted and unmotivated to continue fighting. The code will be more difficult than before, it will require ultimate sacrifice, increased discipline, and unfailing faith. I don’t have all of those things yet. The combination will only be correct when I let go of what it is that’s holding me back.
Once I’ve figured out the right combination to the door, I must settle the issues in my life and turn the knob, regardless of what tells me it’s okay to stay where I am, to stay in a state of rest. I’m scared of that door, yet something inside of me yearns deeply for what’s inside the room. I’m scared of what I’ll have to give up, yet I know in my spirit that the room beyond the door is so much better than what’s in the hallway. It’s up to me now, It’s my choice to move forward into the door this time…
“Wait.” God whispers softly to me, “You’re forgetting what the hallway is meant for. You’ve just fought a terrible battle and are severely wounded. Rest here for now, my child, let me tend to your wounds. Wait a while and see, the next door will be revealed in time. When that time comes, you will have the right combination and the door will be yours to open.”
Chronicle Studios 