There are 37 cabinet doors, and 24 drawers in my kitchen. You need to know this.
You see, a while back as I was taking my vitamins Brian walked into the kitchen, closed the cabinet door where we keep the vitamins and said, “You always leave the cabinet doors open.” Then he walked out.
What?!?! Are you kidding me?! I never leave the cabinet doors open! And I was going to close this one as soon as I swallowed that vitamin!! How could he say that?
Well, on that Sunday morning things changed! I opened every door and drawer as far as possible, then I walked out of the house, got in the car with Brian and left to go to church. Angry.
On the way to church, I realized it was the first Sunday of the month. We would be celebrating communion. And I was angry. Almost immediately, the Lord brought to mind 1 Corinthians 11:27-28 “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.”
Drat. My heart was not clean. It was full of anger. I prayed, silently, “Lord, I’m sorry I got angry.”
There, now my heart was right. I confessed my anger. I was ‘good to go’. I could participate in the Lord’s Supper with a clean heart. Wrong. In my heart I knew I needed to apologize to Brian.
Instead, I argued with God, “Lord, he said something that made me mad. I shouldn’t have to apologize to him for getting angry. Besides, he doesn’t even know I’m angry!”
The Lord didn’t buy my defense. Maybe my initial ‘prayer of confession’ wasn’t quite genuine. Or maybe if I didn’t ‘come clean’ with Brian, I would secretly nurse the anger, and let a root of bitterness get started.
So, I apologized to Brian, who had no idea what I was talking about, and he said everything was OK.
Whew! Now, all was good, I could take communion with a clean conscience.
We walked into church, we sang, I was worshiping my Precious God, and then he brought to mind Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
What??? Did I have to tell Brian about the doors and drawers? Nope. No way. Not gonna happen. Besides, I thought, he was wrong! I don’t leave the doors open. I always close them. And, it’s not a sin to leave them open, even if I did… which I did that morning.
The pastor prayed and passed the elements. My heart was not clean. I had deliberately opened those drawers and doors just so that Brian would be angry when he got home and saw them.
I jotted on the bulletin, “I opened every cabinet door and drawer in the kitchen and left them open. I’m sorry,” and handed it to Brian. Did he just stifle a laugh????
When the bread and cup were handed to me I received both, and thanked my precious Savior for shedding his blood on the cross so that my sins were forgiven. All of them. Anger. Self-righteousness. Disrespecting Brian. Disrespecting the Lord. Bitterness. You name it.
As soon as we got home, I closed every drawer and door in the kitchen before Brian saw them… because, after all, I never leave them open!
Marcia Furrow 
Awe Marcia I love you and miss you, will totally take this lesson into my marriage (getting married this Saturday)
Thank you for your blogs 🙂
Warmly,
Anastasia Ganyuchenko Chicago, IL 60613 (847)962-2515
LikeLike
Congratulations, Anastasia!! I am so happy for you ♥
LikeLike
I remember this story! What a good lesson!
LikeLike
Yes, it is one of my more ‘shared’ illustrations 🙂
LikeLike
Marcia,
This was one I could relate to! Dick also accuses me of leaving cabinet drawers and door open! He comes in when I’m cooking dinner and rather than open and close them every couple minutes I keep them open for a short while. Why is Dick critical about this? I don’t know but I could relate to what you did in opening all of them before you left for church. And wouldn’t you it would be communion Sunday. God is so gentle about correcting us and teaching us not to harbor bitterness in our hearts even in these small ways so we won’t want to take part in the big ways. Thanks so much for sharing this personal story!
Love, Sandy
LikeLike
Sandy, soooooo good to know I’m not alone in this LOL
LikeLike
Your vulnerability when you write these is what make these so impactful. Thank you for sharing! Such a great lesson that we can all relate to.
LikeLike
Thanks, Tammi – hope all is going well with you!
LikeLike
I definitely leave doors & drawers open often. After 40 years of marriage, my husband thinks it is endearing (usually!)
LikeLike
🙂 so sweet
LikeLike
I wish I could do this as often as I get angry at someone. It will make me think next time. This is precious.
LikeLike
yep – I agree. ♥
LikeLike
I laughed out loud! Randy said I always leave the doors and drawers open too and I didn’t believe him…till I walked out of the room and when I came back, I had indeed left them open! The best is that your husband wasn’t even aware you were angry! This is a great example of how anger separates us from God and those we love.
LikeLike
I didn’t even think of the separation part of it… thanks for pointing that out!
LikeLike
So true about our need to go to the person to have a clean heart…I leave drawers, doors, and cabinets open, the kids used to go around closing them after me. It was a family joke.
LikeLike
You are right Christine… I’ll come close your doors for you LOL
LikeLike
Oh my heart, Marcia. Rest assured the message wasn’t lost on me, but having been behind you in that kitchen many times, I couldn’t help but laugh at you opening all those, just to make your point – and then laughed until I cried thinking of you having to close them all again. You go girl!! (Glad you worked it all out in your heart before you had to go home and look at that, but more importantly before it did take root!) Love you, Lou
LikeLike
hahahahaha, yep, it was a sight 🙂
LikeLike