Enter In

Seasons come and go. Times change. Doors stay open and doors close. This past year, some doors closed, some seasons went, some chapters ended. Things or people that I thought I'd have in my life forever, left. I had to walk away from things I didn't want to, let go of things I enjoyed holding onto, isn't that the hardest? When something you really enjoyed ends, when the door closes on that season of life that was so amazing. It's not easy. I blamed people for walking away, for giving up, and for not putting in effort, and while it may be true that the friendship may have lasted if only they put in effort, if only they didn't give up and walk away, what is true is that isn't what happened. The door closed. The effort wasn't there. And it was/is for a reason. Some change I can enjoy, but some change is rather difficult for me. When I changed churches, the second time, it was one of the toughest times for me. I went to Gateway when I was 9 (when I first moved to Texas), then changed churches when I was about 11, then changed churches when I was 15. When I was 15, that was a really hard transition for me. I had just started getting comfortable with my other youth group and I didn't feel like I fit in with the new youth group, when I went the kids my age didn't seem involved like I was, or invested in growing spiritually. It was hard. I didn't feel like I had a place there, I felt misplaced. My parents started going to a home group, my older sister found her now husband there, my brother made friends from the youth group, my younger sister made friends with our pastors, and I... well I, as I said, felt misplaced, I still haven't clicked with anyone my age there, but I have gotten several great babysitting opportunities, and it's been great. I constantly tried to run back to the closed door (my old church), I was resistant, very resistant. The door was closed, but I waited for it to open, when it didn't, I looked for a window to go through, I looked for any way to avoid the new door. But you can't change God's plan, when it's supposed to happen, it's going to happen, no matter how stubborn you might be, or how much you plead. I've also changed youth groups, twice, neither of those being easy, although, again when I was 15, changing churches and youth groups was the hardest. I sat there waiting for the door to open again, it never did, but I sat waiting for quite a while. Slowly, very slowly, I moved on, I peeked in, eventually stepped into the new open doors, and its been beautiful, I've seen things that God got me out of the way of, and protected me from, and I see now the beauty of the open doors and the beauty of leaving the closed doors, closed. God does not close doors for the fun of it, there's a reason it is closed. I think the hardest part about closed doors are the questions running through your mind, "Am I really supposed to move on? Am I really supposed to leave all of this behind? Is the door really closed? Is it supposed to open again?" To that I'd say, the answer is maybe, until you actually walk away, then God will reveal the answer to you. If it's supposed to be closed, it'll stay closed. If it opens later, it will open, and God will show you it is open. Leaving it all behind can be scary and hard. Maybe its something you worked so hard on and now you're being asked to leave it all... the only thing that is eternal is God, our hope, and our faith in Him. If it seems closed in the moment, walk away, and trust God will do with it as He has planned. If you don't trust God, you won't be able to walk away, to let go, to leave the closed door closed. Trust that if it's supposed to be open, He will open it, but if it's closed, it's closed for a reason, a good reason, for your good, and His glory. Stop pounding on the locked door, no it is not easy, trust me, I know, but He is waiting for you at the door that is open, in the new chapter, the coming season, run to Him, to where He is, He's waiting to take a hold of your hand and walk you through the open doors. He's standing beside you right now holding open a new door, waiting for you to move on from the door He closed. Even if it's closed for a moment, it's closed for the moment, move into the opened door, trust the One who holds the key to every door, who knows how many seconds you'll spend in each door. After all, we are living our lives for Him, so what if we go to the places He's calling us to? If you focus on what isn't, you miss what is. If you focus on all the opportunities you had, you miss the opportunities you have. We are all called to new seasons, several times in our lives, jump into those seasons with Him, it's really beautiful, it's incredible, and there's nothing else like it when you go through life, every part of it with Him. Trust God in the midst of changing or unprecedented times, because everything is constantly changing around us, if we never trust God with change, then we trust the world more, the things we have, and when that happens we are left disappointed, because when it changes, or is removed from our lives, what we hoped in, and trusted in becomes inconsistent, and disappointing. God never changes, He is constant, always, trust in Him, and where He is taking you. When you do that, peace enters, worry exits, and you focus on Him better.