Closed Doors
Quote; “We need to learn to praise the Lord as much for a closed door as we do an open door. The reason God closes doors is because He has not prepared anything over there for us. If he didn’t close the wrong door, we would never find the right door.
God directs our path through the closing and opening of doors. Once a door closes, it forces you to change your course. Another door closes, it forces you to change your course again. Then, finally, you find the open door and you walk right into your blessing.
The Lord directs our paths through the opening and closing of doors, but instead of praising him for the closed door (which keeps us out of trouble); we get upset because we “judge by the appearances.”
We have an ever-present help in the time of trouble that is always standing guard. Because He walks ahead of you, He can spot trouble down the road and set up a roadblock or detours accordingly. But through our lack of wisdom, we try to tear down the roadblocks or push aside the detour signs. Then the minute we get into trouble, we start crying, “Lord, how could You have done this to me?”
We have got to realize that the closed door can be a blessing. Didn’t He say that no good thing would He withhold from them that love Him?
If you get terminated from your job, praise God for the new opportunities that will manifest themselves: it might be another job, it might be an opportunity to go to school.
If that man or woman won’t return your call, it might not be them, it might be the Lord setting up a roadblock (just let it go).
One time, a person had a bank they had been in business with for many years tell them “No!” to a $10,000 loan. The Lord put in their spirit to call another bank. That bank gave them $40,000 at a lower interest rate than the first bank was offering.
We can sometimes trap ourselves in doubt and discouragement through judging by appearances. Be grateful for the many times our Father has closed doors to us just to open them in the most unexpected places.
The Lord won’t always say in spoken words: “Go to the left, now to the right” …sometimes He will just close the doors that are wrong for you. The mountain top is glorious, but it is in the Valley that we will grow!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him – and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) {Unknown}
How often do you hear people pleading with God, that he will open a particular door to them, even getting groups together to “Intercede in Prayer” that God will open a particular door and allow them to purchase that Home, obtain that Job, be with that person, as they have deemed that to be the “Correct path.” Some people spend so much time trying to beat down “Closed Doors” that it is almost like an Army with a Battering Ram, trying to beat down a Castle Gate. Quote; “Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service of God supreme, will find perplexities vanish and a plain path before their feet.” {FLB 64}
Quote; “Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honour of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.” {DA 330} Quote; “All Heaven is interested in the happiness of man. Our heavenly Father does not close the avenues of joy to any of His creatures. The divine requirements call upon us to shun those indulgences that would bring suffering and disappointment, that would close to us the door of happiness and heaven. . . . He [the world’s Redeemer] requires us to perform only those duties that will lead our steps to heights of bliss to which the disobedient can never attain. The true, joyous life of the soul is to have Christ formed within, the hope of glory.” {FLB 226} Joshua 18:3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long [are] ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you? 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
When God says, “Go Forwards” how often do we sit down and pout and complain, or start to beat on a closed door when there is already a wide open door beckoning and awaiting us. “God is never in a panic, nothing can be done that He is not absolute master of, and no one in earth or heaven can shut a door He has opened, nor open a door He has shut. God alters the inevitable when we get in touch with Him.” {Oswald Chambers} Quote; “Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service of God supreme, will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.” {MH 481} Quickly enter “Open Doors,” and very quickly turn away from “Closed Doors,” every moment, of every day.
