Gates

"I've opened a door before you that no one can close. You don't have much strength, I know that... " (Revelation 3:8).

 

A dear friend of mine sent that text to me at a time when I most needed it. That's the way our Father works, you know—acting and speaking incognito through our friends. 

 

The verse reminded me of my days as a youngster when I was working alongside my father and we would drive from field to field. It was my job to jump out of the truck to open and close all the gates. 

 

Most of them were barbed wire gates, secured by wire loops and often strung so tight it was difficult for me as a youngster to get them open. My father usually let me struggle for a while and then he would get out of the truck to give me a hand. (I learned later to reach around the end of the gate, put my shoulder against it, pull from the standing gatepost and leverage what little strength I had.)

 

I’m so glad our Father is with me these days to open the gates that obstruct my way. Many of them are strung tight and I don’t have much strength. Some of them won't open at all. 

 

Sometimes God lets me struggle for a while for that's part of the growing-up process. Other times he gives me a hand. I know he does what he thinks is best for me. 

 

There's one gate, however, that won’t give me trouble. It’s the last gate at the end of the day. It will be standing open when I get there and I can step straight through. For Jesus opened that gate long ago and passed right through it. And left it wide open for you and me.

 

David Roper

2.4.21