The Hope of an Open Door
"but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."
—Isaiah 40:31
One early morning, I went out on our back porch to feed our finches. As I approached their cage, I was surprised to see that the bird cage door was wide open. It clearly had been open all night. I was shocked to see that the birds were still in the cage. I could not believe they had not flown away. They had not taken advantage of the opportunity for freedom. I thought to myself, “Did they not see the open door? Or did they see the open door and choose to stay because of fear, or comfort, or a lack of hope?”
Then I felt God stir in my heart: “Do we do this too?”
Does our hopelessness prevent us from seeing opened doors God has placed before us? Do we fear the path on the other side of the door and thus refuse to walk through? Do we doubt that God will go before us to provide, to protect, to guide? Are we too comfortable with the humdrum path we are walking?
Just as that open cage door offered the birds a path to freedom, something irrefutably better than captivity, an opened door put in front of us by God will lead us to paths more amazing than we can imagine. We simply must put our hope in the Lord to walk through.
Isaiah 40:31 reminds us:
"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint."
Hope in Jesus allows us to see the open door and gives us the courage to walk through, whether that door represents new opportunities in our job, our education, or our service to God. This hope strengthens our faith in the goodness of the Savior and strengthens our trust in Him to guide, to protect, and to provide. This truth fills our hearts with hope and encourages us to walk through the door with confidence and faith in the One that renews our strength and allows us to soar on wings like eagles, for our good and His glory.
Guided Reflection
Is there a door that God has placed before you that you have not walked through? What is keeping you from walking through the door?
Was there a door in the past that you were hesitant to walk through, but did? What did God reveal to you once you walked through?
About the Author
Amy B. Maddox, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer of Statistical Science & Co-Graduate Program Director
Amy B. Maddox, Ph.D., has been a faculty member at Baylor University for 25 years and currently serves as Co-Graduate Program Director and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Statistical Science. She received a bachelor's of science degree in theoretical math from Southwest Texas State University (now known as Texas State University), a master's of science degree in theoretical math and a doctoral degree in Statistics from Baylor University. Her research interests include sampling methods, statistical methodology and education in statistics; the latter leading to the publication of two books: Introduction to Statistics and Introduction to Statistical Methods.
Dr. Maddox was born and raised in Texas and currently lives in Crawford, Texas. She and her husband, Jodi, have four girls and four “fur” girls. Her oldest daughter, Ana, is a Baylor alumna and a Labor and Delivery nurse. Ava and Ali are sophomores at Baylor; Ava is majoring in Biology and Ali is majoring in Psychology. Her youngest, Adi, is a freshman majoring in Elementary Education and is on the Coed Cheer Team at Baylor. Dr. Maddox is an active member of First Baptist Church, Crawford. She also serves on the Crawford ISD Board of Trustees, the Crawford ISD Education Foundation, and the Crawford ISD Security committee. In her spare time, she enjoys exercising, reading, and spending time with her family and her “fur” babies.