As many of you know, Jeff and I recently went on a cruise with my family. When I think back on the cruise, my mind is filled with many good memories of spending time with our family and relaxing, but I am also filled with memories of some very important lessons that God taught me while I was on the cruise. This is a perfect example of how God can use everyday experiences to teach us lessons that will remain with us for the rest of our days. It is in these common, everyday experiences that we can draw strength and learn the lessons that God wants us to learn. I have already written about some of the lessons that God taught me while I was on the cruise, and today’s writing is yet another lesson that God brought to my mind while floating in the middle of the ocean.

As some of you may know, I am an avid runner. I enjoy it, it helps me stay in shape, and it gives my mind a chance to rejuvenate and focus more. There was an exercise room on the ship that I would go to almost every day. I would run on a treadmill and then come back to our room. Many days, I went to the exercise room by myself, and on one such day I was walking back to our room. As I entered the hall that our room was in, I was suddenly struck by how the hall looked. It was one of the longest and straightest halls that I think I had ever seen. I could literally see from one end to the other without having to strain my eyes. There were hundreds of doors on either side of the hall. All the doors looked the same. For as far as I could see, all I saw were doors.

As I was walking down the hall, I was reminded of how this hall was a lot like our lives. We are all walking down a path in our lives. There are times that we can look far into the distance and see how our lives may unfold, but our lives are just like the hall on that cruise ship. There are many doors and opportunities on either side. Often when we think about all the doors and opportunities that we encounter in this life, we can become overwhelmed and stressed. It is difficult for us to know which door to enter, and we are often scared to open a door when we are no sure of what lies behind it. As I was walking down the hall of that cruise ship, I began to get a little overwhelmed and nervous for a moment. I started asking myself questions like, “What if I cannot find my room?” “Am I even on the right deck?” “What if I get lost and no one is able to find me?” I then remembered that in my pocket was the key to our room. I knew that I could indeed find our room and that when I slipped the key in the door, it would open and I would enter the correct cabin.

I then realized that we have all been given a key to unlock the correct doors that we encounter in our lives. We do not keep this key in our pocket, but we keep it in our hearts. This key was placed in our hearts before we were even born, and we have carried it with us for years before we ever had to use it. Sometimes in life we do encounter the wrong door and sometimes we do open it, but we know in our hearts that it is the wrong door and the wrong direction to take. Sometimes it takes us a long time to realize that it was the wrong door, but when we look back on our lives, we realize that we knew in our hearts all along that it was the wrong door. We just did not listen to that quiet still voice that is within all of us.

God knows that we will encounter many doors and opportunities in this life. He places some of the doors in our path, and some of the doors He does not. We have to be able to discern which doors are meant for us. This can be a very scary and overwhelming process if we are not listening to God and letting Him lead us. However, if we listen to God, get His advice on every door we encounter, and use the key that He has placed in all of our hearts, we will open the correct doors which will lead us to many blessings and happiness like we have never known before.

This is why it is so important for all of us to have a personal relationship with God. This is why it is so important for all of us to listen to His voice as we travel through our lives. We can spend many years banging on the wrong doors only realizing after we enter that it was the wrong door to take. Entering the wrong door will cause us to lose hope, it will cause our faith to waiver, and it will cause us to become disillusioned with life.

The good news is that God can rescue us when we enter the wrong door. He can pull us out of the room, calm our fears, and set us back on the right path when we make the wrong choice. When we do choose the wrong door and God does rescue us, we learn valuable lessons that will help us when we encounter doors in the future. When we do encounter more doors, we will be more careful and we will seek out God’s wisdom and make sure that it is the right door for us before we enter it.

So, if you are standing at a door in your life right now and are unsure if you should walk through it, talk to God. Let Him guide your thoughts and illuminate your path. Use the key that He has placed in your heart. If this is the right door for you, God will tell you to open it and if it isn’t, God will help you to keep it closed. If you have opened the wrong door and you are scared and hopeless, cry out to God. He is right there with you. He will take your hand and lead you back to the right path and set you on a course of peace. Making the right choices in life can be very difficult. Knowing which door to take can be overwhelming, but you have it within yourself to choose the correct door if you just allow God to lead the way.

If you are knocking on a door right now that will not open, turn and walk away. That is not the door for you. God wants all of us to live the best lives that we can live. He wants all of us to feel the peace and hope that only He can offer, and He can do this by helping us choose the right doors to enter and by helping us choose which doors to walk past. Listen to God everyday. He is the positive voice that you hear. His voice is the one that brings you peace. God will always lead us in the right direction if we just listen. Following God will bring us peace and as we all know, PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~