Open Doors

It had been a funny week spiritually with God sending Mary little messages here and there with one common theme to them. The message seemed to be: don’t forget your dream. Along with this was a recurring scripture passage from Revelation 3:8 that kept coming which suggested that God was opening a door that no man could close. Oddly, back in August when she left the food bank, Mary had got this communiqué and it seemed time to leave. Mary assumed that when she started helping at the Mission cooking that volunteering there was the answer to this other door opening. So why was she getting this communication again that a door was opening?
As well, to add to the suspense was her ex-husband’s promised money coming soon. She recalled how months ago she estimated that all she needed to start a business was 10,000 dollars. She had forgotten all about that until this morning. Was she to open another store? She thought of her “Second Hand Rose” idea for a name for this store. Was she to rent a store and go ahead with this idea? Or was she to open a store in her house? After all, wasn’t that the ultimate vision she had: to have a house servicing not only counseling offices, a gift store, a restaurant and a chapel but maybe even a place to rest and be restored? It was just recently she recognize she really wanted to help abused women.
When the phone call from her accountant suggested money was coming from her ex, Mary thought even more how appropriately some of that money could be channeled towards helping women like herself. But to get the bigger dream started, Mary realized, perhaps she had to open a second hand store to finance the larger dream she envisioned.
She would take it to God in prayer. "Please help me to see if you are directing me to open a store again, Lord," Mary prayed, "and show me where it should be." As Mary sat thinking of everything she realized she would have to get in better shape to be able to start another business. Her stress test was tomorrow. If she heard a negative report Mary knew she would have to get back into shape and look after herself. She could never go through the paces of opening a business –not feeling the way she was. She laughed to herself. What better way for God to get Mary motivated to look after her body then to offer her money to open a business? Wow! You are amazing, Lord, she said.
But Mary, being Mary, would not go on assumptions, and would continue to pray through this situation until God spoke and gave Mary an answer and some direction where this business was to be. A new excitement and hope filled Mary’s heart.