CCC 27-3

PASS IT ON

That idea of moving forward toward the extraordinary future the Lord has for us is central to our MAINTAINING HOPE —building resilience and putting today’s pain in its ultimate context of a future with our resurrected King tomorrow.

I have thought much about this lately, not just because I keep hearing thoughts like it from people in transition or needing direction, but because I have stood in front of several closed doors lately, smashed headlong into dis torted pictures that did not seem to help or give any clear direction. Despite that, I am grateful I learned three points I often share with others in my practice and seek to live out myself. 1. Remain certain that an open door awaits. There is an excellent C.S. Lewis quote I often share when I am sitting with a “closed-door” person. It was written in one of his letters addressing suffering. In this case, he and his wife, Joy, struggled with her cancer. “We are not necessar ily doubting that God will do the best for us. We are won dering how painful the best will turn out to be.” 1 There’s no doubting or denying how painful a closed door can be. It can often lead to our head dropping, draw ing in that deep breath, and then sighing and expelling so much of the hope we have held on to. This leaves us staring into the mirror we see in Proverbs, which reflects how “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…” (13:12, NIV). So, indeed, we need to sit well with those who are con fused or struggling with a closed door. But here is where I share Paul’s picture of dealing with hurt and heartache. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, ESV). In other words, we are leaving out half the story painted in Scripture if we do not believe there is a positive future beyond that closed door. Again, Lewis writes: “A book on suffering which says nothing of heaven, is leaving out almost the whole of one side of the account. Scripture and tradition habitually put the joys of heaven into the scale against the sufferings of earth….” 2 So that is where I begin with a “closed door” person—taking seriously the pain they bring in, especially when a door has closed that could have solved or given them a new direction. However, a closed door does not mean it is the only door. There is a future ahead of us, more doors beyond, which can lead us to the second way of addressing a closed door. 2. Keep moving… even if it’s stumbling on. I often compare 2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV), “For this light momen tary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” where Paul pictures all he has been through, with 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, where Paul gives that terrible laundry list of deeply hurtful trials he experienced—shipwrecks, dangers, lashes, hunger, and thirst. Those were hardly “light afflictions” in the physical sense. However, what makes sense with his comparison is

Paul putting his very real trials on one side of the scale but then piling God’s blessings and our future with Him on the other side. It is no contest. For many of us, facing a closed door and remaining stuck in our own difficult situation can seem like punish ment piled up—misery on top of more misery—making us ready to give up. Yet Paul, in Christ, kept moving—to the next town, the next city, and doors that would open toward people who would believe. That idea of moving forward toward the extraordinary future the Lord has for us is central to our maintaining hope—building resilience and putting today’s pain in its ultimate context of a future with our resurrected King tomorrow. As difficult as our closed doors are, we know a door will open. We are, in Christ, resurrected beings. 3. God never runs out of options. In Isaiah 40:27 (NASB1995), a door of escape seemed unattainable to God’s people. They were in captivity and bondage for years, and Isaiah pictures the whole nation as having lost all hope. “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God?’” That is everyone staring at a closed door—those in the North (Israel) and the South (Jacob)—those facing the two complaints that so often come when a door closes or stays shut. First, maybe God cannot see what is going on in our lives or He would provide an open door right now (i.e., “My way is hidden from the Lord” —like a cloud cover blocking God’s sight). Or worse, maybe God can see, but He chooses not to help ( “the justice due me escapes the notice of my God” —if there were any justice in this world, that door of escape would open). Yet, later in that passage (verse 28), we are reminded of something beneficial for closed-door people—God does not become weary or tired. He does see. Even more, He desires and chooses to help, and “His understanding is inscrutable.” What a beautiful picture of how God’s view of our situation is multifaceted. While we give up, He never runs out of ideas or ways to bring us help through doors that we could never imagine opening. Finally, I have found something that has helped me grasp these three points—staying certain that another door will open, keeping moving in faith and hope, and believing that God will never run out of new options for us, even when we do—having someone “up close and in person” who deeply believes all three. For me, that person was the late Gary Smalley. For a decade, I had the honor of working alongside Gary, writing books and delivering seminars. Since we were both very poor golfers, we would

Christian Counseling Connection 35