Yesterday was our first real off day. We chose to go into the city of San Jose and explore, shop, and eat. The day was full of laughter, fun, and food. However, a long day of eating and walking has some consequences, particularly in the restroom.
The bus ride back to our ministry took over two hours because of the traffic in the city in the evening. By the time we finally got off the bus stop in our city, I was about to explode. Once we were back home, I ran straight for the restroom. I was in there for some time; I read a couple blogs from my squad mates, and looked through some music playlists on Spotify. When I was finished, I tried to leave, but the door wouldn’t open…
I stood there for about ten minutes trying to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t locked, but for whatever reason, it would not open. The room was small and hot with nothing but a toilet and a trash bin, and I was trapped. I sat on the toilet seat trying to think of what to do. I didn’t have any way of calling anyone, and I didn’t want to start yelling lest I disturb the bible college class that was going on in the room below.
I thought perhaps God had trapped me in there for a reason, but why would he choose in the toilet? I started praying, asking God to help me get out. I didn’t want to be trapped forever, but I didn’t know how to get anyone to come find me. The idea came to me that I should shut off the fan so I could hear if anyone came, but the fan and light were connected to the same switch, so I was standing in darkness after that.
I put my ear to the door, heard footsteps approaching, and began to knock. Not a second later, a knock came on the other side of the door. The Lord answered my prayer.
“I’m locked in,” I said, “the door won’t budge.”
“Are you serious?” came my friend Josiah’s voice.
“Yep, I can’t get out,” I replied.
For a while, we sat on opposite sides of the door fidgeting with the knobs to try to open the door, but nothing worked. Josiah left for a bit, and I just started laughing at the absurdity of the entire situation. How on earth did this even happen? It was simply ridiculous.
Josiah returned with a hammer to attempt to hammer out the hinges of the door, but it didn’t work. Then, he went to get his knife to try to push back the bolt that holds the door in place, which also didn’t work. Between the time that I entered the restroom and the time I tried to leave the restroom, the bolt of the door had somehow broken off of the door and gotten caught between the door and the door frame in such a way that it was totally stuck and unmovable.
We went back to the idea with the hinges. Josiah had to actually shave off some of the wood of the door to be able to push the hinges out. Once the hinges were out, I was able to shove the door out of it’s frame and finally be free.
Isn’t that awesome?? I got to break a door down for the first time in my life!
I was in the bathroom for at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour. I wanted to be frustrated, but the whole situation was just so funny that I couldn’t help but laugh about it all.
Romans 21:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” I easily could have been mad and frustrated, but instead I chose to be patient, to pray, and to laugh and find joy in the situation. As frustrating as some circumstances may become, an attitude of joy will go a long way to make the situation much more bearable. This will be a story I can forever look back on and laugh at, because rather than becoming upset, God taught me to be patient and rejoice in the midst of a frustrating circumstance.
