Open doors

These are the words of Him who is holy and true...what He opens, no one can shut; and what He shuts, no one can open. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.

- Revelation 3:7-8

This is not the verse I had originally chosen for today.

But throughout the night last night and on the way to work this morning, I knew that I needed to send special encouragement today.

I do not believe that anyone on this list was unaffected by yesterday’s events, everyone knows someone that is going to be starting over.

Face it, this week has been a bummer. 

Personally I’ve had several things this past week that have hurt me deeply, from the death of a beloved pet to damage on my brand new motorcycle, but you know, it all seems small compared to what the people around me are experiencing today. 

Those people who came to work yesterday and left without a job.

The people who suffered damage and loss of their community in Goodman, Missouri last night by a tornado.

We have all heard the expression “When God Shuts One Door, He Opens Another”.

That is not actually in the Bible . . . Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone said: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

Sometimes our disappointments in life can become God’s appointments, so don’t let closed doors bother you.

The things we think of as failures and problems can often end up being blessings in disguise.

I could make this a very long email – very “sermony” – but here is what I know:

1. God will guide you if you’ll trust Him

You aren’t just placed on this earth to stumble around in the dark trying to find out what you should do. The God of the Universe is interested in you. He has a plan for you; He has a pathway for you

2. Don’t be disappointed by closed doors.

Just because you encounter resistance or difficulty, it doesn’t necessarily mean God has shut the door.

3. Be active as you look for God’s open door.

Have you ever been excited about an opportunity and suddenly found the door closed? The worst thing you can do is to camp out at that closed door. Don’t quit – keep on moving, and God will direct your paths.

There is another door in scripture God can’t open – it is the door to your heart.

In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock (it’s the door of your heart). If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me.”

In Holman Hunt’s famous painting, “The Light of the World” Jesus is standing at a door knocking.

Art critics pointed out that Hunt had made a mistake because there is no doorknob.

Hunt corrected them by explaining that the door was the door to a person’s heart, and the only doorknob is on the inside.

Jesus won’t force His way through the door of your heart.

He is standing there, knocking, waiting, and asking to come into your life.

Will you open your life to Him?

Have a blessed day.