It’s Just a Gate

At church a few weeks ago a guest pastor was preaching and the whole background of his sermon was that life is full of gates.  Gates open and close.

Every challenge we face? It’s just a gate.

Sometimes the gate feels like it is 20 feet high and being held shut by the forces of 3000 men, but it is still JUST a gate.  It has to open.  The challenge or obstacle or whatever it is WILL end.

Unemployment? It was just a gate allowing me to finish my Masters with honors, spend much needed time with my daughter and that gate opened up to a really great job opportunity.

Financial struggles? They are just a gate into what we REALLY need in our lives.  Turns out it’s not much. 

Car trouble? Just a gate that stays shut long enough so I would slow down for a week.

Trouble conceiving? I know it is just a gate. And I know when it opens, the struggle will have been worth it. I HAVE to know that. I also HAVE to know that as much as I push, He will open it for me.  It’s pretty much the hardest thing for me to remember and believe, but I know it’s a pretty important thing. And the gate will open….  It WILL.

People coming in to and out of our lives? Gates to memories and experiences and lessons.

Everyone has their own gates to go through, to lean against, to push back on.  And they are always changing.  I sometimes just need to keep it all in perspective – while right now having trouble conceiving is my biggest source of stress and frustration – I know it’s not in my control and for once in a very, very, really super long time – this is the only big bad gate in my life. 

He has opened up everything else and poured so much happiness and success in to my life the past 4 months that sometimes I just have to sit back and remember where I was last year.  So many of those struggles are behind us and a new one is in our lives.

And I look at her face every day

and know that if He opened that gate to us once, surely He will do it again.  And I pray and hope for that every day.