Over a lifetime there are many doors that you close for the very last time ~ the door:
- Of your house on the first day of kindergarten
- Of your high school building on the last day of your senior year
- Of your bedroom as you head off for your first year of college
- Of your dorm room as you finally graduate
- Of your first apartment, moving out, before you hand the key to the landlord
- Of your first work place as you leave for the next
- Of any other notable doors through life
Then, although you knew it would one day come, ~ that door:
- Of your office as you move out to “retire’ (Thinking of it now, dare I say epic?)
True, with the close of some of those doors along the way the thought may have been, “Finally!” or “Good riddance!” Such may be so after years of a life-sucking grind just to get through and finish. But for you, for me, and others like us, closing that door for the very last time meant more; way more ~ the end:
- Of a significant chapter of your very full life
- Of a lifetime career/calling which you have executed to the best of your ability
- Of the “well known” (defined parameters & expectations, degrees of control)
With a sense of finality, closing that door and turning to walk away, may also come some reasonable, deep, internal questions, none of which are easy to answer:
- Is this really it?
- Am I sure of what I just did?
- Did I finish well?
- Do I know where I’m going, and what’s next?
- Did I leave anything behind? (Like my identity?)
- What new door is there before me to open now?
Therefore in doing so it is helpful to remember that this will also involve entering a season of transition; from what was routinely then to what is regularly now. It will also mean adjustments for you and those around you, along with an added requirement of patience & grace – both ways! However, all this is to be engaged with a prayerful attitude of expectancy; of being shown how your years of personal formation and maturation (despite limitations) can now be of use for the sake of others. Purpose, identified & owned, is crucial to determine here.
Still, there remains ahead the possibility of a door you may not want to close ~ the door:
- Of your own car as you give over your keys to others, who will now drive for you!
- Of your own home because “it is no longer yours” or “you are no longer safe there.”
- Of your own place of privacy & relief, because you can’t take care of yourself anymore.
Likely, these and other doors will also take courage to close. And by the grace of God, you will.
Reflecting on those doors you once were led to close for the very last time, or anticipating those doors that one day with the same finality you may be led to close – take this to heart: The Lord was with you, continues with you, and will be with you, as you follow His lead. Over the the years I definitely have found this to be true, and in this even now I place my whole trust.
Comments by Ric Ochsner