Open Doors

There are some important changes I need to make in my life right now, but I’m hesitating because change is hard… and change is scary. Why is that?

You know what else is scary… earthquakes! On July 4^th, my wife and I were headed to the gym and were stopped at a stoplight when the first big earthquake hit. My truck started swaying and kept on swaying and it felt really weird. Some of the people at the stoplight rolled down their windows and started yelling to each other, “Hey, what is this, a 4^th of July earthquake?”

When the second earthquake hit, we were at home sitting on the couch together. The couch started moving so my wife and I immediately bolted outside to the beach. The reason we went that direction is because there is a huge 100’ cliff above coast highway on the other side of our house and it’s common for huge boulders to fall down onto the highway, even when there isn’t an earthquake.

After the shaking stopped, I walked to the front of our house to check out the cliff and see if any boulders had fallen. I couldn’t see any damage from where I stood, but it got me thinking about rocks falling and how we don’t have control over Mother Nature. Which reminded me that maybe we don’t have control over Mother Nature, but God certainly does. Which in turn got me thinking about that huge boulder that blocked the entrance to where Jesus was buried.

According to the book of Matthew, two women (both named Mary) went to the tomb of Jesus to prepare his body for burial. They didn’t know that there had been a huge boulder put in the way. But when they arrived, the boulder was moved aside, and an angel of the Lord greeted them, saying, “Come see inside, He has risen”.  I always thought that the angel moved the rock so Jesus could leave. But now I realize that Jesus was already gone. The reason the angel moved the boulder was so that the two women could see inside… and see that Jesus was gone. They must have been scared to go inside, scared by the huge boulder, and by the angel, and by the empty tomb. But they gathered enough strength to move forward. And when they did, they were amazed and overjoyed.

And all that got me thinking… Change is hard and change is scary, especially when a new door opens and we know we need to go through it. But I realize now that when I am scared to go through a new door, or too scared to think I can move a boulder out of my way, God can and will do it for me!

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, 

the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me. 

~ Anonymous