Many years ago, while attending a fellowship meeting of ministers, I heard a pastor declare with great conviction, “If a door opens, I am going through it!” As I listened to him speak, his presumption seemed crystal clear. If a door of opportunity opened, he assumed it was from God and he was ready to charge through it. At the time, I was a young pastor’s wife, and I was very cognizant of the fact that I did not have the years of ministry experience this man had. But I was concerned that his outlook was not a wise or Biblical one.
After four decades of ministry, I can now sum up my understanding of this issue in four simple statements. Not every open door is from God. Not every closed door in your life is the work of the devil. Sometimes open doors are traps laid to entice you. Sometimes closed doors are a gift of divine protection.
NOT EVERY OPEN DOOR IS FROM GOD
There can be danger lurking behind doors that open in our lives, and we need wisdom and discernment to know which open doors to avoid. Additionally, you will need inner determination to reject pressure from people who may advise you to go through an open door that is not from God.
King Jehoshaphat was known as one of the godliest kings in the history of the kingdom of Judah. On the contrary, his contemporary, King Ahab of Israel, was infamous for being one of the most wicked kings in Israel’s history. The following story from the book of Second Chronicles illustrates the danger of entering doors God did not instruct you to pass through and giving in to the pressure of others.
King Jehoshaphat was invited to feast with King Ahab. At the royal dinner, King Ahab pressured King Jehoshaphat to join him in fighting a battle with the Syrians to retake the city of Ramoth Gilead, which had been captured years before. Imagine the setting of that royal feast, with food and wine flowing liberally, and the pressure of a fellow king urging Jehoshaphat to “team up” with him to recapture an important city. (2 Chron. 18:1-3)
King Jehoshaphat succumbed to Ahab’s influence and agreed to join him, but he wanted to hear God’s opinion on this plan. So, Jehoshaphat asked King Ahab to call for one of the Lord’s prophets. (2 Chron. 18:4) Despite the fact that the prophet, Micaiah, warned the kings that their attempt would end in disaster and death, King Jehoshaphat still went along with Ahab’s plan. As it turned out, just as Micaiah had prophesied, the kings failed to retake the city, King Ahab was killed, and King Jehoshaphat barely escaped with his life. (2 Chron. 18:28-34)
When an open door presents itself in your life, don’t just run through it. Ask God for His wisdom and don’t let the opinions of others override what the Holy Spirit says. It is vital to remember, not every open door is from God.
NOT EVERY CLOSED DOOR IS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL
Many Christians fall into the trap of disappointment and discouragement when a door they want to enter is closed to them. They may even “blame the devil” for hindering them. But the reality is that not every closed door in your life is the result of the enemy of your soul working against you. Sometimes, it is the protection and wisdom of God. Consider the Apostle Paul, whose incredible missionary journeys from AD 46-57 were described in detail across nine chapters of the Book of Acts. We can observe that the Holy Spirit (not the devil) closed doors to him and his companions at certain times, in certain places.
Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. Acts 16:6-7 NKJV
Here we can see that it was the Spirit of God that prevented Paul and his associates from entering through doors of opportunity for evangelization in two different regions of Asia. The text does not specify the reason the Lord closed those doors. We can surmise that God’s wisdom regarding the timing in which the Gospel message could be received by the people of those regions, and by extension, protection for the missionaries, may have been the reasons for these closed doors. We know from reading 1 Peter 1:1, that there were disciples of Jesus in Bithynia at a later date, as scholars believe that First Peter was written between AD 62 and 65. God’s timing is wiser than our timing. So don’t be discouraged by a closed door today. His open door for you will come at just the right time, and then – it will provide great delight to your heart!
THE DELIGHT OF GOD’S OPEN DOOR
The apostle Paul’s first missionary journey throughout cities in Galatia (modern day Turkey) took place from AD 47 – 48 and was filled with both triumphs and adversity. He preached with zeal to both Jews and Gentiles but was met with great resistance from his own Jewish brethren. They even attempted to stone him to death. Yet despite those painful encounters, Paul’s joy over the salvation of many Gentiles was irrepressible. When Paul and his associates returned to Antioch to give his missionary report to the believers who had prayed for their success, you can imagine the DELIGHT he had in sharing the blessing of God’s OPEN DOOR!
From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. Acts 14:26-27
When God opens a door in your life, the joy you experience is exhilarating. This does not mean there will be no hardships encountered and no mountains you will have to move by an exercise of your faith. When we began working in Tanzania more than twenty years ago, I could not have imagined the difficulties we would face or the faith that would be required to accomplish the mission God had in mind. But partnering with God and walking through His open door has brought a level of delight no earthly pleasure can match.