Several years ago, a friend, somewhat older than myself, related to me his experiences as a scholarship athlete on the collegiate level.  He was a cross-country runner. In high school, he excelled at all sports, but he was not very tall. He said of college athletics, “I wanted to play basketball, but I had to take the door that was open to me.”  In the years since, I have come to understand how that realization bears on our lives.

We cannot control all influences and eventualities.  None of us chose our place of birth, gender or family.  We were handed a set of tools and given tasks. To our dismay, many of us did not have a complete set of utensils, and the ones we had were worn.  There was nothing to do but get to work doing the best we could with what we had. We might have chosen differently, but no choice was offered. We took the door that was open.

The road of life is dangerous.  You never know where it will take you once you set out.  It is thrilling, confounding and confusing at once. It is interesting to me to read the stories of people who ended at unforeseen destinations.  Many of these tales are uplifting but not all. We never really know when a visit may be our last. Same goes for phone calls, dinner invitations and time with friends.

Life is a journey on which we make momentous decisions based on availability.  We cannot do otherwise. Often, we do not realize the import of our choices until much later.  This would seem cruel except for the will of God. If we really believe that our lives are in His hands, we understand that each of us has a purpose in His cause.  What comes our way was chosen for us- by Him.

Paul referenced an open door that revealed both opportunities and obstacles.  The same is true of our hopes, dreams and plans. There are foes for us to face on the way to fulfillment.  God designed it that way. There are lands to possess and enemies to conquer. These things can be achieved through the power of God in the personal life.  All struggles are similar but never the same. You never know what you’re going to get.

It’s easy to bemoan the failures of good intentions.  I’m an expert. Sometimes, I think of folks who have done well and wonder if they were more, greater or better than me.  The accompanying thought, however, is that I know many who were, indeed, more, greater and better than me who did not do as well as me.  Everything really is in God’s hands. We must take the doors open to us, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Sterl