Tis the Season

"Well, this certainly isn't making any sense," the girl thought in amazement.

"Why is this happening now?" she wondered.

There once was a girl who felt like she was being pushed out of the door that had been opened for years, into the hallway of change with the door being shut behind her.

"Hmmm...it's quiet out here in the hallway," she said looking around. "Are you there, Lord?"

She looked around. The hallway was full of doors as far as the eye could see. It was a big hallway. The girl couldn't see any doors open right in front of her. So she decided to look around and started walking. She felt quite alone and was a bit frightened. Her emotions ran rampant from anger to fear to grief because she didn't know why she was pushed out of the room she felt was God's place for her.

As she was lost in her own thoughts of "whys" "hows," and "what nows," she almost missed the one door that was open at the far end of the hall.

"Gosh," she thought. "That door sure is a ways off. And, it doesn't look like a easy journey to get there."

She questioned whether she had the courage or energy to make the trip. She sadly looked back at her closed door and then back down the long hallway at the open door.

"I wonder if God put that open door way down there for a reason," she asked herself. "Probably," she smirked.

So off she went in fear and trepidation while on occasion looking back in longing to the door that was once open to her but was now closed.

As she trekked down the hallway trying to dodge the dark corners of doubt and the obstacles of fear that were in her way, she recalled an entry in her journal from a Sunday worship service several months back.

"God appoints our seasons. The new season may necessitate the letting go of some things that are good."

"Whoa," she stopped in her tracks.

She looked back at her closed door. She thought about how comfortable and secure she felt in that room. In that room, she reflected, I always thought and did things in a certain way, knew how to work, had it figured out, was an expert in my field.

But now God is saying to me, "I'm going to give you a new way to do it. I'm going to give you a new way to approach this."

The girl looked around. Though it was still very quiet in this massive hallway, she felt God speaking loud and clear.

"I need to tear down your walls and ways that you have built up. This is a season of demolition. But do not be afraid, for I AM with you. This season will not last forever."

Smiling, the girl sighed. She prayed for courage and started moving once again towards the open door.

"I have to decide to walk through this season," she reasoned.

Daniel 3 came to mind as she slowly moved forward down the hallway. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace. Once they were thrown in, they weren't laying there motionless and in despair.

They were walking.

And, the Lord was with them.