Why closed doors are gifts

Ever have a door slammed in your face?

Not just gently closed, but all-out slammed?

In no uncertain terms, it said, "You're not welcome here. You don't belong. We don't want you."

It hurts, doesn't it? Especially if that was the door you really, really wanted to walk through.

Perhaps you've prayed for months (or years) for a child, a husband, a promotion, an invitation. You picture your life with the object of your prayers and it looks GOOD. Fulfilling. Right.

But the doors. One after another. Like an Avon lady desperate to make her quota, you knock on one, then the next, each time hoping THIS is the one. The month. The man. The opportunity.

Sometimes one cracks open, and your heart lifts in hope. Sometimes a welcoming face or encouraging sign peeks around, and you begin to dream. Sometimes you actually extend a foot over the threshold, only to have your toes crushed by painful resistance.

As disappointing and discouraging as closed doors can be, deep down inside, like the silver lining in the  cloud, there is great comfort in them. 

Closed doors are gifts.

They are evidence that a loving God is ordering the circumstances of our lives for our good.

Here are five thoughts to bring perspective when you encounter a closed door:
 

1.  God has a plan for your life and it is good. "I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)

2.  No good plan of God's can be twarted. Job said, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).

3. God can use what appears to be bad for good. Joseph is a classic example. Despite being kidnapped, envied by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, stripped of his job (and his robe), thrown in jail, and forgotten by a "friend," God used Joseph to save his family and an entire nation. "You intended to harm me," Joseph acknowledged,"but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done," (Genesis 50:20).

4. There are no mistakes in the Kingdom, (Romans 8:28). And though Romans 8:28 reminds us that "all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose," it's important to read the companion verse to understand the full picture: " For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son" (29). Much of what happens in our lives is less about God accomplishing something WITH us and more about accomplishing something IN us.

Oswald Chambers, in his classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest, says this:

"The idea is not that we do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us--'I reckon on  you for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on Mine.' God wants to use us as He used His own Son."

5.  When God says "yes," it's because he loves us. When he says "no," it's because he loves us. This quote from O'Hallesby says it all. Because God loves us, he will open those doors we are to walk through and close those we should not. 

Our job is to knock, pray, and trust.

What doors are you knocking on today? Which have remained closed? 

Will you join me in saying to God, "I trust you"?

Leave a comment below and join in the conversation. I'd love to share your faith walk. If you're reading via email, click here to comment.

If you enjoyed this post, you might like Sacrificing a Dream -- Would you do it?

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God Is in the Stops -- when God sets you aside

My 35-year-old Bible study leader went to the doctor for headaches and returned with a diagnosis of brain cancer.

A national and international women's speaker answered the phone at midnight to hear that her godly, mature, Navy officer son had shot and killed a man in cold blood.






A well-educated, popular young man on the fast track to a cushy position in his adopted father's dynasty stands up for what is right and has to flee, leaving friends, family, and job behind.



A prominent evangelist leading crusades all over the Middle East suddenly finds every one of the cities on his tour closed to his ministry efforts.



What do you do when your plans come to a screeching halt and instead of open doors, all you see are brick walls?

What do you do when you're serving God with your heart, soul, and energy, and everything stops because of circumstances beyond your control?

What do you do when God seems to set you aside?

The mighty apostle Paul is the evangelist I referenced in the example above. In Acts 16 we read about him embarking on his second missionary journey with plans to travel the cities of the Middle East. In every city, he shared the gospel, encouraged believers, and strengthened the churches. 

His successful campaign came to a grinding halt when he tried to enter Asia. The Holy Spirit prevented him from going in. Open to consider another city, he and his traveling companions attempted to enter Bithynia. Once again, the Spirit of Jesus blocked his way. Paul was being obedient to the call of God on his life to preach and teach the gospel, but God Himself was opposing him.

WHY?

Since the New Testament hadn't been written yet, Paul didn't have the counsel of written scriptures. Instead, God revealed His will through a dream. Paul saw a vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to "come over to Macedonia and help us." In response, Paul and his team went immediately to the capitol city of Macedonia, Philippi. There he met a group of seekers who eagerly embraced his message of salvation. Among those believers were Lydia, the first convert in Europe, and the Philippian jailor and his family.

The foundation of the churches in Macedonia, Achaia, and later Asia, became the most important achievement in Paul's active ministry. Out of his relationships with these churches came his most important letters -- Thessalonians, Philippians, Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, Galatians and Romans.

God's stops are as important as God's instructions to move forward.

When my Bible study leader, Billy, accepted his cancer as a vehicle from which to testify of God's lordship over his life, his faith was so radiant that people everywhere began to ask to hear his story. He was invited to share his testimony at a men's ministry event at our church. Over 500 men attended, including his brother, who did not know the Lord. After hearing Billy speak, his little brother invited Christ to be his Savior. More than anything, he wanted the type of peace, faith, and trust Billy had.

Billy went home to be with the Lord about a year later. I wonder how many men, including his baby brother, will join him in Heaven one day because Billy chose to walk through the open door God gave him instead of trying to kick open the door that had closed?

Carol, the women's ministry leader, chose to trust God in spite of the heartbreak of an incarcerated son. Today, not only does her ministry continue to thrive, it has a deeper, richer quality that resonates of hope. Because of the tragedy that entered her life, she is a living testimony that God walked with her through the deepest valley and brought beauty from ashes.

To learn more about Speak Up for Hope prison ministry, click here.

Carol and her husband have founded a ministry that reaches out to the families of incarcerated men and women. In addition, she supplies Bible study materials for inmates who want to learn more about the Lord in prison.

And the young man who stood up for what was right and found himself banished from his home and family? He one day returned to his homeland to lead an entire nation out of slavery and into freedom and faith. His name was Moses.

When God shuts the door upon your plans, will you try to kick it open, or will you embrace the truth that there is a better door awaiting you if you have the eyes of faith to look for it?






You want to connect with God, but in the craziness of life, it’s just not happening. You want practical, biblical answers to situations you face every day, but you don’t have hours to pore over Scripture.

You need a resource that answers the questions you’re afraid to ask out loud. Questions like:

• Is my situation hopeless?
• If God already knows what he’s going to do, why bother to pray? 
• Why have you allowed this to happen to me? 
• No one appreciates what I do. Why shouldn’t I quit? 

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