From the September-December 2011 Issue
A DOOR TO NOWHERE? - Poland
Dawid and Agnieska Koziol
Dawid and AgnieszkaA joiner
With some urgency we had to put a back door on our house. The urgency was caused by some other work that needed to be done with the outside house walls. Unfortunately the hole in the wall wasn’t typical, so we had to give the making of the door to a joiner. It looks well now, but there is one problem, we lack the stairs to that door. The door is unused. Yet when I write this little word “unused”, I know that it was very useful, and its usefulness is not measured by the number of entrances. When the door was finished and ready to be taken away, the joiner invited me for coffee. We started a casual conversation, but ended up with deep theological questions. I can’t remember a time when I have had so excellent a conversation with somebody I met for just the second time in my life. Moreover, while we spoke, all the family was listening, although only the joiner was involved in the discussion. The physical door that he was making for me became the opportunity for the presentation of the Gospel and the doctrine of grace was clearly explained.
There is a truth that this story reminded me of. God works out His purposes and fulfils His plans, and sometimes we just have no idea what will be the final effect of our “coincidental” work or conversation. Yet we know that our Lord always knows best, and more than that, he has the power to work out his purposes, even if we think that particular door leads to nowhere. After all, aren’t we called to be responsible and use the opportunities He gives us? That doesn’t mean to be indifferent to results and fruits and not to anticipate these, but so often we won’t learn what is the fruit of our labour. That is the case with another man we met recently.
Practical help
He came to our church not for the service but to do practical work in our building. After long months of expectation we were able to put a new floor in our church and our friend was one who had the necessary abilities and tools to do the work. While working and drinking coffee he started a conversation about the Bible. As a result of that talk he came to the church service. He kept coming for a few weeks and showed some interest in the Gospel and the Reformation. I lent him a few books that he quickly read, and we have had opportunity for deeper conversation. After a while I discovered that he had literally spent his previous years working and living in the Catholic Church. By profession he is an organist, a person who is very much esteemed in Catholic circles. He was disappointed with the church, its teaching and practices.
But why was he interested in us, and why did he come to our services? What is his future? We do not know. What we know is that due to his work our friend will soon move to another town, and probably, though we don’t know that for sure, we won’t hear about him again. However what we know makes us sure that even this meeting wasn’t “a door to nowhere”. He was able to hear the Gospel clearly proclaimed and now he knows the truth of God’s Word.
The joiner, our friend, the children from our English Club and their parents who came for the Garden Party, they are our latest contacts. We know that for each one of them God has opened a door that we could use. We use them in trust and hope that these doors are not doors to nowhere, and we praise God for every opportunity we have had. Praising Him, we wait for new doors to be opened.