On your left is the fitness center. As an employee here, one of the perks is that you have free access to use our office gym.
I was on a tour of a six-story office building where I was starting a new job in downtown Atlanta. After being dazed by all the offices and conference rooms, I was excited to see the fitness center that was a perk for company employees. I made a mental note to take full advantage of the convenience of having a free gym membership, and I had hopes of working out more consistently.
Fast forward six months of being on the job, and I decided to finally inquire about getting access to the gym. I filled out the paperwork and received a validated card to freely use the fitness center at my convenience. All dressed in my cute workout gear, I skipped (okay I actually walked slowly and grudgingly) to the gym, scanned my card, and pushed the door to get in. However, when I tried to push the door, it didn’t open.
After trying a few more times, I walked to the security desk to inform them that my newly validated card was not working. The man at the desk took my information and told me he would have the building manager call me back. The building manager called me and asked me to give her the numbers off my card and she would check into it, and give me a call back.
I was informed to try the card again, and was assured that it should be working. Once again, I went to the gym and still, the card was not working. This time I was really frustrated. I thought, “Is it really that hard to validate a card, I mean!” After going back and forth with security and management for a few weeks, the building manager informed me that she didn’t see any declined attempts at the gym from my assigned card, and she asked me to meet her at the gym so she could see what was going on.
I got to the gym at our appointed meeting time, but no one was there. Further down the hall from me, I noticed a lady standing as if she was waiting for someone, so I went to ask her if she knew anything about the fitness center door. It turned out that she was the building manager and she was waiting for me, at the fitness center door. Long story short, the door I had been trying for weeks to open was not the door to the gym. The whole time I was trying to use my validated card at a place that it wasn’t validated for. And I was frustrated and mad because of not being able to get in.
The Lord brought this back to my memory last week, and I knew it was because I needed to share my experience with you, friend. The irony is that this is the exact same scenario I write about in my new book, Peace Stealers. I spent years trying to beat down the door to a full-time acting career, and I was frustrated at all the doors that wouldn’t open for me. I didn’t just want to act for the sake of acting. I wanted to use my platform to spread the gospel and inspire the world. (I had good motivations for my goals!)
But an acting career was not the door God wanted to use to bring me to His purpose.
Frustration results from trying to force open doors that you were never designed to walk through.
Friend, have you been trying to go through a door that God hasn’t validated for you? Are you trying to get into the “gym” but it simply isn’t working out (pun intended)?
Understand that God opens doors and He closes doors, and it’s important for you to meet with Him (as I did with the building manager) to know which door is the right door. Otherwise, you will spin your wheels and wonder why you’re not getting anywhere.
Friend, now is not the time to look at your neighbor, your favorite social media influencer, or your parents to decide which dreams to pursue. What God is calling you to do won’t be what He’s calling anyone else to do. So make sure you take some time to truly reflect on what you’re pursuing, and make sure God has called you to it. If not, don’t be afraid to make a u-turn and start over. One of my favorite coaching clients came to me thinking that she wanted to be a life coach, but as we continued our coaching relationship, she discovered that calligraphy was her heart's desire, and it turns out it was God’s desire for her as well. This reflection and realization resulted in a change of direction for her that was for her best. The rest, as they say, is history, or I should say HIS-STORY.
When God is in it, the right doors will open, and you will go further faster. His story and purpose woven into your DNA from the womb will begin to unfold in unimaginable ways.
Until next time my friend,
Tiffany