AFC061209
That long dark hallway.
A member sent me this thought in a message:
“When I have a difficult choice to make, I ask God to close the door that would be wrong for me and open the door that would be His will.”
I know about those doors… When I look ahead in life I see doors, and stairwells, and places where bridges should be but are not. I see slippery inclines and stupendous walls, and I wonder how I am going to proceed. There are scores of doors; some have no doorknobs or handles and some have more than one. Sometimes there are multiple doors blocking my progress and I occasionally choose recklessly.
However, when I look back at the past, all I see it is one, long, smooth, perfectly straight corridor. That is God taking care of me. No point then in my thrashing around along the way. God is still on the Throne and sometimes that Throne is right in the middle of my heart. At those times, I am the most joyful and most humbled. That’s where God wants me to be eventually, on my knees before the Throne singing out in songs of unfathomable joy. I like to think that perhaps I will be just outside The Great Hall listening to the Angelic Choirs sing their hymns of praise. I would like to hum along as I listen. Sometimes when I am not trying to think about that, I feel I may already be humming along for a few seconds at a time, and then when I stop to listen I can’t recall the tune any longer. I have to move on down the corridor to try and catch another few notes.
When I wander from that lovely corridor, He will let me bounce off the walls for a while and then gently steer me toward a better decision. What a good God we have! I sometimes imagine His goodness like this:
Think of a very large work of art, a canvas covered with a riot of beauty. On the canvas, under the paint, there is a thin but clear pencil line. More than one artist contributes to the art; more than one theme is portrayed. The palette covers the entire spectrum of colors. The images include forests and seas, mountains and valleys, creatures of every kind and people of every race and time. The layers get thicker and thicker and the discord between the images intensifies. It is The World doing the painting, The World and the Prince of The Air, adding chaotic disarray to this huge canvas. And yet, the pencil line – the one drawn by God’s own hand – is still there.
That pencil line is the corridor along which we walk. Despite the tumult around us, we can literally “walk the line” with certainty that it will lead us through every possible distraction if only we pay attention to the line and not the painting. Easy to say and hard to do, it is nonetheless worthwhile and doable when our companion along the way is none other than the Artist who drew the straight line.
A straight line is the most perfect component of art, I believe. It can literally go on forever without ever changing. If you were to graph it, you could draw a line clear across the graph without ever lifting your pencil or changing the direction of your movement. It is simple. It is integral. I guess some might think a circle is the most perfect component of art, but I would still stay with the line, because a circle is a figure, and a line is just a line. A circle is a line that has no end or beginning, but it circumscribes a space. A line doesn’t do that. A circle goes where it is. A line goes where it goes, and God’s line goes out from Him straight to Him with nary a curve or bend or angle or twist. How’s that for perfect?!
Let the paint fly! I will keep looking for the line. It’s supposed to be right there, right under my feet. Ah! There it is! He did it again! Another obstacle cleared. Praise God!
Pray for the people, Beloved. Pray for ALL the people. Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever — at your service
Chick
Remember to ask for JC’s healing before the planned surgical intervention. Get that tumor outta here!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved
AFC061209
That long dark hallway.
A member sent me this thought in a message:
“When I have a difficult choice to make, I ask God to close the door that would be wrong for me and open the door that would be His will.”
I know about those doors… When I look ahead in life I see doors, and stairwells, and places where bridges should be but are not. I see slippery inclines and stupendous walls, and I wonder how I am going to proceed. There are scores of doors; some have no doorknobs or handles and some have more than one. Sometimes there are multiple doors blocking my progress and I occasionally choose recklessly.
However, when I look back at the past, all I see it is one, long, smooth, perfectly straight corridor. That is God taking care of me. No point then in my thrashing around along the way. God is still on the Throne and sometimes that Throne is right in the middle of my heart. At those times, I am the most joyful and most humbled. That’s where God wants me to be eventually, on my knees before the Throne singing out in songs of unfathomable joy. I like to think that perhaps I will be just outside The Great Hall listening to the Angelic Choirs sing their hymns of praise. I would like to hum along as I listen. Sometimes when I am not trying to think about that, I feel I may already be humming along for a few seconds at a time, and then when I stop to listen I can’t recall the tune any longer. I have to move on down the corridor to try and catch another few notes.
When I wander from that lovely corridor, He will let me bounce off the walls for a while and then gently steer me toward a better decision. What a good God we have! I sometimes imagine His goodness like this:
Think of a very large work of art, a canvas covered with a riot of beauty. On the canvas, under the paint, there is a thin but clear pencil line. More than one artist contributes to the art; more than one theme is portrayed. The palette covers the entire spectrum of colors. The images include forests and seas, mountains and valleys, creatures of every kind and people of every race and time. The layers get thicker and thicker and the discord between the images intensifies. It is The World doing the painting, The World and the Prince of The Air, adding chaotic disarray to this huge canvas. And yet, the pencil line – the one drawn by God’s own hand – is still there.
That pencil line is the corridor along which we walk. Despite the tumult around us, we can literally “walk the line” with certainty that it will lead us through every possible distraction if only we pay attention to the line and not the painting. Easy to say and hard to do, it is nonetheless worthwhile and doable when our companion along the way is none other than the Artist who drew the straight line.
A straight line is the most perfect component of art, I believe. It can literally go on forever without ever changing. If you were to graph it, you could draw a line clear across the graph without ever lifting your pencil or changing the direction of your movement. It is simple. It is integral. I guess some might think a circle is the most perfect component of art, but I would still stay with the line, because a circle is a figure, and a line is just a line. A circle is a line that has no end or beginning, but it circumscribes a space. A line doesn’t do that. A circle goes where it is. A line goes where it goes, and God’s line goes out from Him straight to Him with nary a curve or bend or angle or twist. How’s that for perfect?!
Let the paint fly! I will keep looking for the line. It’s supposed to be right there, right under my feet. Ah! There it is! He did it again! Another obstacle cleared. Praise God!
Pray for the people, Beloved. Pray for ALL the people. Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever — at your service
Chick
Remember to ask for JC’s healing before the planned surgical intervention. Get that tumor outta here!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved
About Chick Todd
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
