Last month we stayed at a hostel in Yangon, Myanmar. Our bathroom was a big room with 5 sinks, 3 small toilet rooms and 3 small shower rooms. Each room had its own door and its own lock. One day I walked into one of the toilet rooms, shut the door, and locked it. When I was ready to leave, I realized that the lock was stuck in the lock position and wouldn’t budge.
I was locked in!
Upon realizing that I was stuck in this bathroom, I started to get slightly frustrated. I thought, “Are you serious? What the heck? This sucks!”
I prayed and asked God for favor, peace, and calmness during this situation. I then realized that in all honesty I had nowhere to be. I thought, “What is the rush? I have nowhere I absolutely have to be today. I don’t need to get frustrated. It’s not a big deal. I will get out of here eventually.”
There was a window in the room so I opened it in hope of air flow. I tried to move the lock up, down, left, and right but it would not budge. Eventually, Amy heard me jiggling the lock and tried to help. Next to the toilet room is a shower. Amy was able to give me a small screwdriver through a hole in the connecting wall. I appreciated that very much.
I tried the screwdriver on the lock screws. The problem was that the screwdriver was too small to unscrew them! This whole time I was thinking, “Why don’t I just kick this stupid door down?” My first response of anger at the situation was replaced by a sense of peace and calmness.
Around this time David, laughing at the situation, joined the party. He said he had a screwdriver that might work and went to get it. At that point I closed my eyes and prayed, “God please help unlock this door. I would like to get out now. I don’t want to have to unscrew this lock.”
With my eyes still closed I jiggled the lock once more. To my surprise, this time, the lock moved with ease. Yessss! About ten minutes after getting lock in, I was finally out of that room.
After hearing the story, a wise man recently told me something along the lines of: “Bathrooms are often viewed as prophetic; a lot of shit gets worked out there!” (haha, love you Papa Gary.)
Often times, I feel like I am always in a rush to get the next thing that I could easily miss out on the present thing. I had been asking God to teach me more patience and to teach me how to rely on Him more in every situation but especially in situations that could easily lead to frustration.
As I sit and think about the “locked in” situation, I am surprised by the fact that I was able to stay so calm and patient. It’s not that I doubt God’s ability to give me peace and patience, but rather I know how I normally would have dealt with the situation. I probably would have tried to jiggle the lock for a few minutes, got pissed off at the door, and kicked it open. The lock would have broken, at the very least, and would have ended up costing money to replace.
I thank God for this lesson… It’s sinking in!
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13)
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be open for you (Mathew 7:7-8).”
