Here, again, is an article that I wrote several years ago. I hope that it blesses and inspires you in some way!
“THE DOOR IS OPEN”
Several months ago, I had an incident with my oldest daughter, Taylor. We had been spending some family time in our basement, watching a movie together, when Taylor asked me if she could have yet another cookie. I told her “no” because she had had too many already. She then broke out into one of her, what I call, “meltdown tantrums”, where she first would begin by begging me with words like “PLEEEAAASSSEE!!”, and, “I’ll do anything for one more cookie”. Then, when she could see that I would not back down, the meltdown took on full force. She began screaming and crying and just would not calm down. I decided that I had heard enough and went upstairs into the kitchen, while she remained at the base of the stairs. As I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at her acting ridiculously, I kept telling her that as soon as she calmed down and stopped crying, she could come upstairs.
Unfortunately, she just could not seem to calm down…she kept crying and crying and begging me to let her come upstairs. She kept saying, “Let me up, Mommy! Don’t keep me down here!” And I kept saying, “The door is open!! All you have to do is stop crying and come upstairs!” Then, again, she would cry, “Let me up!! I want to come upstairs!!” and I would then say, “You can come up any time you want…just stop crying! Look and see that the door is open! It is up to you to calm down and walk up the stairs yourself. I am not the one keeping you down there! You are doing this to yourself!!”
This went on for a few more minutes, so I decided to sit down at the kitchen table. As I was sitting there, wondering why my daughter was acting this way, the Holy Spirit showed up big time! He used this situation as an incredible opportunity to teach me a valuable spiritual lesson. He told me, “You know the way that you are feeling right now? Well, that’s the way that I feel every time one of my children cries out for me to do something for them that I’ve already done. Every time my children are too busy crying and living in fear about their situation, they cannot see clearly that the door is already open….the battle has already been won. All they have to do is calm down, take their eyes off the problem and put their eyes back on me. Then they will truly see that, in Me, they have the ability to rise up out of their basements and walk up the stairs and out the door.”
Well, this hit me like a ton of bricks! At the time, I had been wallowing in depression, allowing myself to get stressed out about things that really were not worth my time. At different times in my life I have had the tendency to live in negativity, focusing mostly on the problem, not the Problem-Solver. But, since this experience, whenever I feel myself slip back into those moods, and I still do slip back into them at times, I am always reminded that “the door is open”, and that I have vastly more powerful spiritual weapons than anything the devil can throw at me! I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Hallelujah!
So, take a moment to look at your life…what are your basements? What are your doors that are already open? What are the circumstances in your life that you know you can conquer through the blood of Jesus and the sword of the Spirit? I encourage you today to rise up, climb those stairs, walk through that open door and draw a line in the sand. Refuse to allow the enemy to keep you in bondage of any kind…you are kings and priests to God. You are victorious!!
God’s blessings and power to you all,
Pam
Several months ago, I had an incident with my oldest daughter, Taylor. We had been spending some family time in our basement, watching a movie together, when Taylor asked me if she could have yet another cookie. I told her “no” because she had had too many already. She then broke out into one of her, what I call, “meltdown tantrums”, where she first would begin by begging me with words like “PLEEEAAASSSEE!!”, and, “I’ll do anything for one more cookie”. Then, when she could see that I would not back down, the meltdown took on full force. She began screaming and crying and just would not calm down. I decided that I had heard enough and went upstairs into the kitchen, while she remained at the base of the stairs. As I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at her acting ridiculously, I kept telling her that as soon as she calmed down and stopped crying, she could come upstairs.
Unfortunately, she just could not seem to calm down…she kept crying and crying and begging me to let her come upstairs. She kept saying, “Let me up, Mommy! Don’t keep me down here!” And I kept saying, “The door is open!! All you have to do is stop crying and come upstairs!” Then, again, she would cry, “Let me up!! I want to come upstairs!!” and I would then say, “You can come up any time you want…just stop crying! Look and see that the door is open! It is up to you to calm down and walk up the stairs yourself. I am not the one keeping you down there! You are doing this to yourself!!”
This went on for a few more minutes, so I decided to sit down at the kitchen table. As I was sitting there, wondering why my daughter was acting this way, the Holy Spirit showed up big time! He used this situation as an incredible opportunity to teach me a valuable spiritual lesson. He told me, “You know the way that you are feeling right now? Well, that’s the way that I feel every time one of my children cries out for me to do something for them that I’ve already done. Every time my children are too busy crying and living in fear about their situation, they cannot see clearly that the door is already open….the battle has already been won. All they have to do is calm down, take their eyes off the problem and put their eyes back on me. Then they will truly see that, in Me, they have the ability to rise up out of their basements and walk up the stairs and out the door.”
Well, this hit me like a ton of bricks! At the time, I had been wallowing in depression, allowing myself to get stressed out about things that really were not worth my time. At different times in my life I have had the tendency to live in negativity, focusing mostly on the problem, not the Problem-Solver. But, since this experience, whenever I feel myself slip back into those moods, and I still do slip back into them at times, I am always reminded that “the door is open”, and that I have vastly more powerful spiritual weapons than anything the devil can throw at me! I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Hallelujah!
So, take a moment to look at your life…what are your basements? What are your doors that are already open? What are the circumstances in your life that you know you can conquer through the blood of Jesus and the sword of the Spirit? I encourage you today to rise up, climb those stairs, walk through that open door and draw a line in the sand. Refuse to allow the enemy to keep you in bondage of any kind…you are kings and priests to God. You are victorious!!
God’s blessings and power to you all,
Pam
2 comments:
Pam-
This is so profound! I really think you need to get this published somewhere! Seriously!
Thanks so much! I have thought about the very same thing...also for the rose bush article. I really feel like God wants me to get it out there somewhere, but I have no idea how. I don't even know how to begin to get into freelance. I will pray about it!
Thanks for your support!
Pam
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