Dr.
Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics
tells an amazing story that fits into the Christmas story in a beautiful way.
A man in town have been burned
badly in a house fire and the burns had greatly disfigured his face. He had been attempting to save his parents
from the fire and failed. He took this
tragedy to mean that God was punishing him.
In time he became a recluse – allowing no one to see him, not even his
wife.
The wife went to see Dr. Maltz, a
plastic surgeon and asked for his help.
Before he let her finish, Dr. Maltz interrupted and said, “I can
help. I can restore his face.”
The woman sadly shook her
head. Her husband had repeatedly refused
help from anyone, and she knew he would refuse again.
Instead, she said, “I want you to
disfigure my face so I can be like him.
If I can see life as he sees it, and feel his pain, then perhaps he will
let me back into his life.”
Dr. Maltz was both shocked and
moved by this woman’s request. Of course
he denied her request, but asked instead if he could meet her husband. They left immediately to go to the lady’s
home.
He knocked on the door. No answer.
He knocked again, more loudly than
before. No answer.
He called out, “Sir, I am a
plastic surgeon and I can restore your face.”
No answer.
He pleaded, he begged, he talked
loudly, he talked softly, yet the door remained closed.
In one final gesture, he said
through the closed door, “Your wife wants me to disfigure her face to make her
look like you in the hope that you will let her back into your life. That’s how much she loves you.”
In a moment they heard the shuffling
of feet, and a door latch was undone.
The doorknob began to turn. And
the man let her in. Into his space, his
room and his heart.
That
is God standing on the outside of our door.
He has such great love and compassion for us, and He so wants us to come
to him, that he was willing to look like us.
He took on the trappings of mankind.
He came to our feeding bins, he put on thin and crude strips of clothing,
and he inhaled the smells of our world, just so he could be with us.
He
worked in our work places like the carpentry shop, he went to the seedy side of
life and made friends with prostitutes, tax collectors and fishermen. He even visited cemeteries.
He
went to the low places, the scruffy places, the murky places in our world
because he wanted to be with us so much.
That
is how He demonstrated His immense love and desire to be with the ones he
loves.
The
doorknob is in our hands. Will we open
the door to Him?
Words of Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time
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