My favorite chair in my office.

What does your office look like? Mine is a collection of the places and people I’ve served in ministry.

My favorite chair in my office was a gift to me from the students I served in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). It is draped with a quilt that was gifted to me from the Adullam Orphanage in Ghana, West Africa, where I serve when I go. In the back of the chair is a pillow from Daughters of Hope, a factory in India I toured that helps employ destitute women. To the side of the chair is a HOPE pillow from Glory Haus that represents all of the young women speak about and walk like along side of as they go from victim to survivor to thriver. That’s just one chair. You get the picture.

One quick glance to any part of my office can fill my heart with dreams as well as memories. 

This morning, I was drawn to a key that rests on my desktop. It was given to me by a former FCA student leader who served with me when she was in middle school. Ironically, today she serves with me as one of my college interns at Rescuing Hope, Inc.

The key came with a card that read,

Hang this key where you will easily see it to serve as a reminder that Jesus is the key to salvation, comfort, and happiness in our daily lives. The cut-away cross symbolizes Jesus’ love for us, a love so strong that He gave His life that we may be saved. The alpha and omega symbolize that He is, “the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev. 22:13). The heart-sharped lock reveals that Jesus is the key to opening our heart. “

To me, this key symbolizes the relationship God has developed over time between me and this young lady. I’ve watched her bloom and grow into an amazing young woman of God. She pours herself out daily to serve others and reflect Christ in their lives.

Several months ago God deposited a phrase in my heart,

Be the key!”

I knew it would have something to do with the formation of our nonprofit, Rescuing Hope, Inc., but I wasn’t entirely sure how. This morning, as I looked at the key on my desk and reflected on my friendship with the young lady who gave it to me, it all clicked.

A key in and of itself can do nothing. It simply exists. For a key to serve a purpose, it has to be placed in someone’s hand and used.

God calls us to be the key.

Isaiah 61:1 says,

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,”

We’re called to release prisoners. We’re called to be the key.

If we will place ourselves in His hand and trust He will use us, He will unlock the doors that hold others captive. Those doors may be literal doors, emotional doors or spiritual doors.

It is up to God to turn the key the way it should go. God is the one that brings the freedom. We’re just the instrument He uses to make it happen.

Just like keys, we’re all different. We come in different shapes and sizes. We don’t all fit the same lock, but God knows what we were created to serve and He can get us there.

Are you willing to yield to the hand of God? Are you willing to allow Him to twist and turn you however He deems necessary for His purpose? Are you willing to be used to bring freedom to others?

Are you willing to be the key?

*I am so excited about the upcoming launch of our nonprofit, Rescuing Hope, Inc. If you would like to learn more about it and how you can be a part of it, email me at Susan@Susannorris.org.