In the Hallway

One door shuts.

Another door is opening.

Have you heard that message? Doesn’t it sound exciting? Easy? It’s a message I’ve heard in the church a thousand times. Every time a chapter is closed another is beginning. Every time a season ends, another is starting. Every time a door closes, another is opening.

“ing”…

Until you've been there, until you've managed to find yourself in the "ing", this message makes perfect sense - A perfectly timed progression of events, moving from one door to the next, from one place in life to another.

Instant. Easy. Exciting.

But it’s the "ing" we don’t want to talk about. It’s the waiting, the moving, the happening, the progressing…

It’s the time spent in the hallway, when one door shuts and the next door hasn’t opened yet. It’s the waiting, the moving. It’s the trying, the proving, the growing, the questioning, the doubting. It’s the listening, the hearing, the knowing, the planning, the building.

No one talks about the hallway.

Yet it’s a familiar theme in the Bible.

It’s called Exodus.

Israel. David. Joseph. Jesus. The list goes on. They all spent time in the hallway, in exodus.

So why don’t we talk about it? Why does it feel so wrong? Why does the hallway get such a bad wrap?

The first question you’ll get when you decide to walk out the door is, “So where are you going now?” And if you don’t have an answer to that one, be ready for the follow-up, “Then why are you leaving?” The hallway can be confusing and uncomfortable. The hallway can even feel like punishment. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Exodus is a departure, a leaving, a movement. It’s motion, energy, action. An exodus is something you do, something you’re caught up in, somewhere you’re going, something you join because you don’t want to stay where you are.” –Rob Bell

The hallway is hard, but it’s a necessary part of our walk with God.

The hallway is where God speaks and gives direction.

It’s a time of growing, maturing. It’s a time of preparation.

We like to have things figured out, perfectly planned and put together. But God likes for us to rely on Him. We like to know where the closest and safest open door is before we let the door behind us slam shut. But God wants us to step out in faith and rely only on His all-sufficient grace, mercy and wisdom.

In the hallway we may look confused and misguided, but that's exactly how we maybe ought to look, because in that, the light of God’s perfect way shines that much brighter. Besides, who are we to pretend we’ve got this all figured out?

In the hallway, after you’re finished complaining and groaning, doubting God and questioning your lot in life,

make an attempt to just stop and listen.

God speaks in the hallway.

And when He has finished leading you and the next door finally opens, the light of God’s perfect way shines that much brighter and our past steps and seemingly misguided ways begin to make perfect sense in the scheme of God’s unchanging plan.

The hallway doesn’t always make sense, but in the end, it’s a necessary part of our walk with God. And when one door shuts another will always open. It's not our job to have our next move all figured out. That's God's knowing. He'll let us know when He's ready. Just be prepared to spend a little time in the hallway.

Listen.

Follow.

A door is opening.

This is just the beginning

"The instinct to challenge the process is a fundamental quality of every leader. When God created leaders, he equipped them with an unsettling urge to unpack, undo, and unearth methods. This explains your tendency to question everything around you. It's the reason you have such strong opinions - and such a strong desire to share them. God wired you that way. Deep in your heart you may feel that if you were in charge, things would not only be different, they'd be better. This is not a problem of arrogance or pride. It's simply the way God wired you. It's a good thing."

Thanks Andy Stanley, for those words.

My own biggest critic - Me. The person with the greatest power and influence to slow the forward motion of my progress with God - ME. God created us. God put dreams in our hearts. God placed talent in our hands and vision in our soul. He can't show us all at once how awesome a plan He has for us - we wouldn't believe it if He did. We would doubt. We would most likely run in fear. We are our own greatest critic, greatest limitation. Yet we are God's handiwork. We exist to be God's fingerprint on His creation.

People will doubt your call. People will even hate you because of your call (sounds like something Jesus said). People will fear you. People will tell stories about you and try to hurt you.

Our responsibility is to wake up every morning not worrying about who is against us or who is on our side but rather whose side we are on. Are you on God's side? Are you following His lead? Are you worrying about making your mark or making His mark? Are you concerned about the rumors? The doubters? The haters? Or are you concerned with knowing that you are on the side of the Creator? Really, what does it matter who is for us? What does it matter who is against us?

I am for God. God is for me. And this is just the beginning.