“The Door”

Matthew 7:7-8 and Rev 3:2 (NABRE)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.”

This image came to me after leaving the Monastery. It was a time of inner turmoil for me as I began to question the past and wonder what was going to happen next. Would I go to a different monastery? Would I stay here and serve God in my home area? But I also thought of all the other people who are struggling with choosing what to do next. And who are struggling in their relationship with God.

Sometimes when we lose our sense of God, it is because we are keeping him out. We have put some kind of barrier in place between ourselves and God. There are times of course when God draws back from us as well, but when he does that, it is to encourage us to grow, stretch, and find him again in a new way. It is a test of faith, one which is meant to make us stronger. But what about when we are the ones who draw back? There might be many reasons for why we do this…anger, guilt, shame, ignorance, weak faith, fear, complacency….etc.

In the creation of this image, I imagined that God is on the other side of the door. Sort of a flipside of that famous painting of Jesus knocking on the door. The girl is occupying a room that has an almost prison like feel to it. I even considered putting a barred window in it, but I thought it would be too disctracting. The door itself is heavy, solid, letting no light shine in. It is locked, but the lock is on the inside. Symbolicly the door and the lock can represent different things in a persons life. The door being some decision that has to be made, the lock being something that is in the way, preventing the person from walking through the door. This can be something they have control over, or something they don’t have control over. The girl however, does have the key. How did she get it? Was it slid under the door, or did she always have it? She hears the knocking and contemplates the key, her posture and expression suggest hesitancy, gaurdedness, vulnerability, insecurity…In order to move on, undo the lock, and walk through the door, she needs only use the key. She needs to find her courage, make a choice, respond to Gods knocking, overcome whatever is in the way, and open the door. God is there on the otherside waiting for her and encouraging her. He will keep waiting, and keep knocking until she is able to respond, no matter how long it takes.

What are the things in your life that keep you from having the kind of relationship with God that you desire? How can you overcome that? Do you see the reward as something worth going for? What in your life can help you to open the locks and walk through the door that you hear God knocking on?