Keys to the Kingdom

     I have lots of keys.  I need lots of keys.  Unfortunately, I have a lot of difficulty with keys.  I lose them.  I put them in doorknobs and can't get them to turn correctly.  I replace them and end up with yet another key that does not open the lock for me.  I am something of a disaster with keys.
     The keys to my van have a fancy electronic gizmo that allows me to push a button and the car door will lock or unlock.  This has only gotten me in trouble once when I pushed the button and SOMEBODY ELSE'S van slider opened.  But that is another story.
     Friday afternoon, I headed out into the school parking lot joyfully anticipating my weekend.  When I pulled my keys out of my purse I realized that the unlocker button was missing.  My mind raced.  A friend's key had recently been bent in half, could my unlocker button have been broken off intentionally by the same vandal?  I headed back into the building wondering if I had a clue where the spare key was located.  You'll soon see that I really didn't have a clue about anything.  I needed a plan.   I decided that Pat would have to come rescue me.
     I called home about five or six times from the office.  Lots of rings, but no answer even though I knew that everyone was home.  Brain storm!  I could call my friend, Lori, who could call her husband, who could reach Pat and explain the problem.  Such round about stuff had worked for us in the past.  But Lori's phone had a funny sounding busy signal.  (Since then I used my remarkable powers of deduction to determine that the office phones had been turned off at 4:30.)  Obviously, I would be sitting at the school for a while.
     I headed back up to my classroom.  I decided that if I wasn't able to reach my husband soon,  I would walk over to Nik's house and throw myself on his mercy.  Nik, a friend of ours, lives about two blocks from the school.  Nik, I was sure, would be able to get me into my car.  He is pretty handy like that. After all, Nik repairs school buses for a living.  I was still pretty upset that someone might have messed with my car keys.
     I phoned Pat from my classroom.  Amazingly, he picked up right away.  I began to explain.   "The unlocker button on my key ring is missing.  I can't get into my car."
     Pat interupted, "Can't you use the keys?"
     Clearly, he didn't understand the depth of my problem.  "No, Honey, the button is missing so I can't get into the car."
     At that point my wonderful husband began to speak to me in the soothing tones reserved for crazy people and tantruming toddlers. "The button is broken, but what about the key?  Is there something wrong with the key?"
     The light dawned, "Oh!  I could use the key to open the trunk and climb into the car from the back."
     Pat muttered, "Donna, just call me from the parking lot if the key does not work."
     When I used the key, which I had been holding in my hand the entire time, to get into my car, through the door, I discovered the unlocker button was sitting on the passenger seat.  Only my mind had been missing and vandalized.
     I have always believed that there is a scripture for every occasion.  And this is no exception.

     These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.  What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  I know your deeds.  See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.  I know that you have little strength,   ~Revelation 3:7

     Isn't that the truth?  Jesus is the One who holds the key to my life.  He unlocks meaning and purpose.  He unlocks joy and sadness.  He opens a world full of possibility and wonder.  He holds the key to eternity.

     I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.  And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.  His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.  His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
     When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.  Then He placed his right hand on me and  said:"Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One;  I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!  And I HOLD THE KEYS of death and Hades.  Revelation 1:12-18

     Jesus has the keys to open and shut the doors of Hell and Death.  Jesus is the door to our salvation.  Jesus Himself holds the keys to the throne room of heaven.
     If it were left to me, I would still be trying to go through the trunk.

PS: This week has been incredibly busy, so I am sharing from my archive.