Thresholds : Part 2

I was struck by something my wife sent me recently. It’s by author Terry Wardle. He wrote,

“I grew up next door to my paternal grandmother. A space of less than thirty steps separated my front door from her home. Over the eighteen years that I lived with my parents, I made that short journey thousands of times, often multiple times a day. Usually I would step through her front door and stay a while, watch television, visit, or eat a meal. On countless occasions, I would slip in and out in a matter of moments, bringing a message, asking a question, or checking in to see what was happening. Regardless of the length of stay, I had to walk through the front door in order to engage with life on the other side.

I have no recollection of the door itself. I walked through it daily for years, yet I have no memory of what the door was like. I saw it, turned the doorknob, pushed it open, and stepped through it thousands of times. Was there a window in the door? I’m not sure. Was it painted, possibly stained? I can’t recall. Maybe that is because it has been over forty years since I moved away. Maybe it’s because the door wasn’t what mattered to me. There are many things I do remember — not about the nature of the door, but about what lay on the other side…Countless memories flood my mind — many happy, some sad, more than a few confusing, all originating from inside the house that I entered through an important, yet only vaguely remembered, front door. Life was not at the door. The door was just a piece of wood, three brass hinges and a doorknob. But behind the door, life opened up for me. In the end, it made that door one of the most important doors of my life.” ~ Terry Wardle

We all have important doors in our past, some literal, some metaphorical. Thresholds that, having passed through them, have made an enormous difference in our lives. When my wife, Dianne, invited me to the Sadie Hawkins hayride in 1981, her exact words were, “Hey, I’m kinda in a bind. I’m hoping you can help me out. I asked two other guys to go to the hayride, and they already had dates. You’d be doing me a big favor if you’d go with me?” It wasn’t the most confidence building invitation I’ve ever received. “Hey, I’m kinda in a bind? I was hoping you can help me out?” She might have well as said, “Hey, Mr. Chopped Liver, you’re my last resort!” I didn’t care. I said ‘yes’ immediately, walking across a threshold that proved to be one of the most important doors of my life. A few years later, when Dianne gave birth to our oldest child, I stood beside her, holding her hand, exhausted from twenty-one hours of labor. Dianne was tired, too. When the baby was born, she looked at me expectantly and asked, “What is it, a boy or a girl?” We didn’t want to know ahead of time, enjoying the surprise. But that night, she asked the wrong guy. I looked down at that newborn baby, still connected via the umbilical cord and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. Thankfully, one nurse, seeing my hesitation, bailed me out. “It’s a girl,” she said. “It’s a girl,” I said excitedly right after her and that night, we crossed over a threshold and became parents. It was one of the most wonderful doors of our lives. But, by far, the most important door I’ve ever entered was the door that opened to a life with God. Jesus famously said, “I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture (John 10:9).” And like many of you, I entered through that door and found a life with God and so much more.

The applications related to the thresholds of our lives, both past and present, are myriad. Life is full of thresholds, the end of one thing and the beginning of another. Some transitions are smooth and others bumpy. Some are easy to navigate and others are hard. The path can often feel like a warren of passages, fraught with peril, or promise and possibilities. Some thresholds are normal, natural, and exciting. Others are forced upon us and often leave us with a sense of dread. Some thresholds are cause for celebration. Others evoke feelings of regret and remorse. Each threshold, regardless of our circumstances, is an opportunity, a doorway into deeper intimacy with God, if we cooperate with Him amid the change. Let me offer a simple overview. First,

1. Thresholds signal change, and change is a part of life

Long before Pete Seeger turned it into a hit song, the writer of Ecclesiastes said,

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace…11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11)."

There are seasons to life. There’s a rhythm to it, a rhythm to our lives with God. Through it all, change is constant. We pass from one season to the next, making decisions along the way. Some of these decisions are mundane and the stakes are low. Others are life-changing and the stakes are high. The key is to discover which season you’re in, embrace the change God is working in your life and never forget…

2. God is present and active through it all

Jesus Himself said, "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20b)." Always! He’s not a passive bystander, hoping you’ll make the right decision, disappointed when you make the wrong choice. No, God is with you always, in every season of your life, through every change. You are always and everywhere with God. You cannot escape His active presence. Learning to recognize His presence, becoming more aware of His activity in your life and learning to keep company with Him, to maintain fellowship with Him come what may, will see you through the most difficult seasons. Through it all, behind it all, in it all, from beginning to end in your life — every twist, every turn, every triumph and tragedy, every joy and disappointment — is the dynamic, relentless, faithful, active presence of God!

3. Every season comes with a message from the heart of God

In each new season, God has something He wants to reveal to us about Himself and us. It’s important, in moments like these, to pause with a purpose and pay attention. What is God saying? What is He saying about Himself? What is He saying to me about me?