Doors and Hinges seem to be appearing often in my reading lately, and every time it happens, I am reminded of a segment from Build It Bigger, a video we view in our sport facilities class, where Danny Forster examines how engineers and welders solve a problem with the large windowed doors that create the outdoor atmosphere at what is now AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In navigating a creative solution to proper operation, viewers witness that these massive glass panels are dependent on little hinges only a fraction of the size of the door. And the book Hinge Moments mirrors this unique aspect when it attempts to answer the question: Have you ever noticed how often what at first may seem insignificant or small emerges to be critical or transforming?
In Hinge Moments, Michael D. Lindsay shares, “More than the threshold or the lock, the humble hinge is the most important part of the door. You probably never interact with the hinges on your doors—unless it is to quiet their squeaking with some WD-40 every so often. But without a hinge, the door would be merely an unwieldly slab propped against a gap in the wall. The hinge makes the door usable but also fixes it into its frame. So it both enables and limits; a well-hinged door is both free and fixed.” Using the imagery of a door and its hinges, Lindsay outlines several phases we will face in life as we transition through the various Seasons of Life.
“Like a hinge, a ‘hinge moment’ changes everything. It entails an abrupt turn from one thing to another, but it also means new possibilities—new avenues to new spaces. These are moments when we are tested, when we either make the most of our transitions or we waste them. Or worse, we let them waste us. When we aren’t properly prepared for our hinge moments, we can panic and make choices we regret later and maybe for the rest of our lives. But if we have robust, reliable hinges, we can make the choices and take the actions that lead to successful transitions,” outlines Lindsay.
Echoing Lindsay’s focus on hinge moments, Jentzen Franklin offers in Acres of Diamonds a similar perspective that we may not always be aware of when these significant moments are happening until we look back on our lives, and to be cautious and intentional to live all of our lives, even the Mundane and Monotonous times with excellence, because any one of these could be a hinge moment. “Excellence doesn’t start at the top. It doesn’t begin when you get big things. It starts when you have a little and you use it well. If you will not clean up a tiny cubicle with excellence, you will not run a company with it. The Bible gives great advice: Don’t despise small beginnings. Being faithful with the small things reaps great rewards. Many people are waiting for a big moment to happen, like a big break. I’ll let you in on a secret: Big moments don’t come to people who wait for big moments. Big moments are birthed out of being faithful in the seemingly insignificant moments of the routine, the menial, the non-glamorous and unexciting. I like to say it this way: Big doors swing on little hinges.”
One story that fascinates me each time I hear it because it magnifies the importance of developing Relational Equity with whomever God brings into our presence, even at unexpected times, comes from Tommy Spaulding. Spaulding’s hinge moment actually occurred in the presence of a bartender as he waited to be interviewed for a college scholarship. I encourage you to read his story in detail because it offers the perspective that who we chose to be, the character we develop, matters even in what appears at the time to be an insignificant moment. But it’s often those tiny moments (Little Hinges) that God uses to accomplish His purpose (Big Doors).
What little moments birthed big things for you? How did God use an unexpected resource to influence you in a significant way? Please feel free to share in the comments below.
References:
Forster, D. (n.d.) “Build it Bigger: Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/315274225
Franklin, J. (2020). Acres of diamonds: Discovering God’s best right where you are. Chosen Books.
Lindsay, D.M. (2021). Hinge moments: Making the most of life’s transitions. IVP Books.
Flourishing @ Life 
This was a very interesting blog. I love the analogy of the hinges. While reading the blog I had one big moment in my life that I could defintily consider to be a hinge moment in my life. My senior year of high school we got a new assistant basketball coach. He came into practice running it as a drill sergeant. Everybody else on the team was weary of talking to him because of how hard core he was acting. I decided to go tell him a one liner during a break and he began to laugh and that started a great relationship with him. Two years down the road, he offered me an internship at the bank he is president at. He decided to take a chance on me because he saw how hard I was willing to work and he wanted to see how would do in an office. Apparently I did pretty good and now his bank has mentioned hiring me on full time this coming January. If it wasn’t for that one liner, our relationship might not have been the same. Now I have the opportunity to work along him as co-worker.
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