13 June 2007 Devotion for Today Open/Closed Doors Revelation 3:8;20

13 June 2007  Devotion for Today  Open/Closed Doors Revelation 3:8, 20

 

"See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it." Rev. 3:8 

 

 Have you ever heard the expression, "Where God closes a door, He opens a window?"  I heard that remark just the other day.  It sounds like one of those sweet, sentimental ideas that make sense but really make no sense.  For one thing, this statement is never found in Scripture.  Secondly, if God wished for a door to be closed, why would He then open up a smaller opportunity somewhere else about the same thing?  Why would He then just keep the original "door" open?   It is true that God does open doors of opportunity as He guides us.  Henry Blackaby says that "this matter of open and closed doors must be approached with caution because it is easily misunderstood. " (Henry and Richard Blackaby Hearing God's Voice Holman and Broadman Press, Nashville, 2002; p.145.)    Too many Christians base their decision making on the "open door policy," as though every open door that they find is an invitation from God to enter it.   Just because one might be offered a promotion or a new job that includes a pay increase, does not necessarily mean that God is in it.   Doors are open around us everywhere.  Many doors the devil has opened as well.  How can we discern the difference?

   

The difficulty with the open door policy is the emphasis that is on the door rather than on God.   God desires not just open doors, He desires a love relationship with us.   Sometimes the doors that God opens for us may not be as pleasant to go through as the door we would choose- but we will always find God behind it.   The closed doors we find are not always shut to us by God, either.  We may find them circumstantially blocked or they may be barred by the devil.  Either way, God may be using you to open that door despite the opposition you are finding at this moment.  It could be that God desires you to pray more about the closed door to determine if you really want to go through it.  It could be that God desires you to confront the opposition that is bolting the door.  God's doors are not always easy, but it is clear that He desires us to focus on God, not just the door, whether the door be open or closed.

 

    Another aspect to open and closed doors is the idea that today too many Christians approach their relationship with God so casually.  They will catagorically reject something because they don't think they have the time, or it doesn't fit into their schedule, when what they really want is not to be tied down to the commitment of opening the door in the first place. 

    

God has set before you an open door.  Pray carefully before you enter it to ensure it is of God and not just your own desire.  Take a careful look at the other doors that are before you.  If the door is closed, it may not be God who shut it.  Even today His Son is saying to someone "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with me." Rev. 3:20  

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com

jcrussell@liberty.edu

 

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