The key was missing, and the door wouldn’t open.

There weren’t many options for getting in. I suppose I could have tried to break down the door, but that would have been expensive (and probably painful). In the end, I chose to go outside and break a window instead.

That turned into a $20 repair at the local hardware store, plus another $10 for a second key, this one hopefully hidden a little better from our son Connor. (He has still never told me what he did with the original.)

I remember the frustration of not being able to get through that door . . . the door to my home office, of all places. The confusion of searching for a key I was sure I had hidden well, and the weakness of not being able to get it open myself.

Sometimes life feels exactly like that: the way forward is right in front of us, but we just can’t seem to find a way through. Jesus’ promise in Revelation 3:8 speaks to that frustration. He says, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.”

Not a door you force open. Not a door you figure out. Not a door that depends on your strength. A door he has already opened.

And when Jesus opens the door, you don’t need the key.

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem as Savior and King. No gate, no wall, no resistance could keep him out then, and nothing can close the door he opens now.

We’ll celebrate his triumphal entry and the open door he sets before us.