open up the door

tonight at community group, we split into guys & gals to pray at the end of our time together. as women, we have to be responsible with our precious 12 minutes together - because women sure love to talk...and cry. we framed our time by re-reading a passage from 1 john that we had read as a congregation last sunday. part of it reads:

god is light; in him there is no darkness at all. if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.

we spent a few moments sharing glimpses into our week and the darknesses we're experiencing. as we joined in prayer, one said, "thank you for giving her the courage to open the door into the darkness in her life, for it is only when we open the door that the light can start pouring in. help us to be your light in her life."

community is an especially intimidating thing in adulthood as we navigate these waters that are no longer full of the friends with whom we walked through college. it would be easy to stay home on wednesday nights. it would be easy to keep to myself during community group. but we are called to live in community. and community is meant to be a living, transparent, vulnerable, intentional body of believers - even when it's hard...especially when it's hard.

and hey, in addition to the bright spots, the twentysomethings include some dark, dark days (unless i'm the only one? bueller?). it's at those times - when our light has blown out and it's the hardest to do so - that we're called to open the door so the light of other believers can shine in and rekindle our light.

in case needtobreathe hasn't urged you to do so yet, "we gotta open up the door, 'cause maybe there's an angel standing on the porch."
  NEEDTOBREATHE - Angel At My Door (90 sec) by NeedToBreathe