The Door God Opens

For some reason, doors are on my mind today.  We’ve all heard the phrase “one door closes; another door opens.”  I’ve heard, “when God closes a door, He opens a window.”  They speak of opportunity, and transition—an avenue of change.  When I was a child, I remember a game show, Let’s Make a Deal, where contestants were given an option of selecting different doors.  There was NO WAY to tell what was behind any given door.  It could be fancy on the outside, or plain.  Or they might look exactly like any other door.  And what was behind the door seldom had anything to do with the appearance of the door itself.  Many a person was drawn into choosing a door that looked good on the front, but held worthless or ridiculous things behind them.  (I remember that goats made regular appearances as “prizes” behind certain doors!)

Doors figure prominently in different Bible stories.  In Genesis 4, God told Cain, who he was pouting at the perceived inequity of God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering, and rejection of his own, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”  Doors are points of entry—and exit.  Cain chose to ignore the wise counsel the Father gave him, and opened the door, through offence, for sin to enter and ultimately destroy his life.   It forced him through a door he likely never would have chosen on his own, when God sentenced him to a nomadic life from that point forward.  No longer would he have the stability of being settled, the gift of cultivating food to feed his family.  The doors Cain opened allowed the enemy to enter, and robbed him of the life God had intended for him.

Noah’s ark had only one door.  You came in that door, or you didn’t come in at all.  Abraham demonstrated his expectancy and desire for the working of God in his life by waiting at the door of his tent, watching for the Lord to show himself.  Sarah was in the door of the tent when she heard the prophecy that made her laugh—that God would bless her with a child in her old age, and remove the reproach of barrenness.  She was standing at a door when she heard God’s promise enter her life and turn it upside down.

We sometimes think that the only doors worth having are open doors.  But sometimes, the closed doors are just as important—even more so.  Ask the Children of Israel.

They were saved from slavery, because they obeyed God, and applied the blood of a spotless lamb over the lintel and posts of their front door.  The Angel of Death passed over their door and wouldn’t enter to carry out God’s judgment, because of their obedience.  That night, the doors that were shut were the ones that preserved lives, and the open doors of the Egyptians allowed a nation to be rocked to its foundation.

Every night before going to bed, my husband does a check of all our doorways: front, back, and garage.  We have certain safeguards in place, and they are intended to keep things OUT just as much as they are intended to allow us IN.  We take care to lock our doors, because we don’t want just anyone to have unrestricted access to our home.

In the old testament, before some doors could be entered, they required a certain approach.  Not just anyone could enter the Tabernacle in the wilderness.  That was reserved for the priesthood alone.  And the priests weren’t allowed to just run in and out, willy-nilly, anytime they desired.  First there had to be a sacrifice; then, they must wash in the brazen laver.  Once they were clean and free of the blood of the sacrifice, even then they were required to carefully dress in the designated priestly garments.  To approach God in any other manner would mean instant death.  You had to enter the door according to the pattern.

There are so many other examples of doors in scripture.  Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phineas, performed terrible acts of wickedness at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  Their lack of reverence for the House of God, and the things that they allowed IN through the doors of their lives and consecration ultimately destroyed them, ending not only their lives, but their entire lineage!  David’s daughter, Tamar, having suffered the humiliation of rape at the hands of her half-brother Amnon, had the door of his house slammed in her face and bolted shut.  I’m sure when she entered his house that day, she had no idea her whole future was about to be shattered.  And her brother Amnon’s first mistake was allowing his “friend” Jonadab IN through the door of his life.  Jonadab was the one who suggested Amnon deceive Tamar in order to seduce her.  His wicked advice was the unraveling of a family dynasty—Tamar’s innocence was stolen and reputation ruined,  Amnon was eventually murdered in revenge by Tamar’s brother Absalom, and Absalom was subsequently exiled, and then died after an unsuccessful attempt of overthrowing his own father from Israel’s throne.

Proverbs speaks of doors.  Proverbs 5 warns the young man to avoid the door of the promiscuous woman.  Proverbs 8 tells us Lady Wisdom cries aloud in the streets, and at the entrance of the doors, crying,

Proverbs 8:4-7 NKJV

⁴ “To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
⁵ O you ^[b]simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
⁶ Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
⁷ For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

It’s our responsibility, it seems, to avoid the doors of wickedness, and to use discretion on what we allow IN to our own doors.  But even better yet is when we seek at the doors of the house of the Lord. 

Proverbs 8:33-35 NKJV
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
³⁴ Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;

Even Jesus talked about doors.  He told us that when we pray, we should shut our doors, because if our prayer life is only a public one, then we’re more concerned with being seen than being heard.  (Matthew 6:6)  He told us that when we see certain signs come to pass, the Kingdom of Heaven would be at hand, “even at the doors.” (Matthew 24:33)  He told us that the foolish virgins, who were unprepared for the coming of the bridegroom, had the door shut on them, and no one could open it for them.  (Matthew 25)  Luke records Jesus saying that once the door is shut, you can stand outside and knock, asking for it to be opened, and He will answer, “I don’t know you.”  (Luke 13:25) John tells us Jesus called himself the Door—the door of the sheepfold, and like Noah’s ark, it is the only way IN or OUT. (John 10)

Sometimes, doors are SHUT.  Sometimes they’re meant to stay shut, and let me tell you, if God shuts a door, you don’t want it to be opened.

But sometimes, the doors are opened.  The only open doors I want to see in my life are the ones God opens.

My son and I recently went to our church organizations annual Campmeeting service.  He’s almost 9, so I feel like, in some settings, he’s old enough to go into a public men’s room.  I still like to be close enough to hear him if he should need me, though.  Maybe you think that is evidence of “helicopter mom” status, but I’m not willing to just throw him to the wolves in our crazy world.  Mama Bear is still very much a part of this mama. 

We arrived early, since our church’s choir was singing for the service that night.  We’d also driven about 100 miles to get there, so Wyatt needed to go to the restroom.  The Campground tabernacle here in Florida is huge, and consequently, so are the restrooms.  A gentleman with a mop had just exited the restroom, and warned him that the floor inside was wet.  I waited outside, and took a moment to call my husband to let him know we had safely arrived.

Suddenly, I heard screaming—an earsplitting, frightened cry for help.  Mama Bear was on alert!  I was ready to storm into the restroom, men or no men.  And then I realized—he was inside, pulling on the wrong door.  Apparently, there is a storage supply closet just inside the restroom, and Wyatt got confused, trying to open the first door he saw.  If it had been opened, he would have realized his mistake.  But it wasn’t.  It was locked, and that locked door FREAKED. HIM. OUT.  It took Mama pushing open the real door and calling out to him before he realized his mistake.  He had to calm himself enough to be able to hear me.

We all face doors in our lives, and when we submit to His will, some are closed, and some are open. WHY do we insist on pulling on the doors that are locked?  The locked door in that restroom was there to safeguard not only the supplies, but the people on the other side.  Locked doors at an amusement park are meant to restrict access to mechanicals and employee-only areas.  They’re meant to protect the patrons AND the experience of the patrons.  Locked doors in a classroom are meant to protect students from intruders, and many times, locked doors save lives.  God locks some doors to do the same exact things.  And we have Pastors who are charged by God to keep the doors of our local assembly, guarding what enters and what exits.  They’re not bouncers as much as overseers, keeping a watch over the security of the assembly, the way a shepherd watches over sheep.

But when Jesus opens doors, He grants access and opportunity to the inheritance He has for His children.  Think about it!  One of the greatest open doors belonged to an empty tomb.  Peter opened ‘doors’ more than once:  on the day of Pentecost, when he told the Jews of their Messiah, and how to be saved (Acts 2); for the Samaritans in Acts 8, when they too received the gift of the Holy Ghost and were baptized in the name of the Lord; to the Gentiles, when he preached salvation to Cornelius’ household in Acts 10.  God sent an angel to Peter to open a prison door, and later sent an earthquake to do the same for Paul and Silas.

Paul talked about doors. “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (I Cor. 16:9)  “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord,” (2 Cor. 2:12)  “² Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; ³ meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the ^[a]mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,” (Col. 4:2-3)   And James gives us perhaps one of the most chilling statements of the Epistles regarding doors:  “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!”  (James 5:9)

Some doors have specific, exciting promises on the other side, promises for His church. “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” (Revelation 3:8)  And even better: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

I pray for each of us that, when we are faced with doors, we have the good sense to look for those God opens.  In fact, I hope we would all PRAY for discernment to be able to know which doors are which. I pray that we all understand that HIS doors build HIS Kingdom FIRST, not ours.  His doors will never be in opposition to His Word.  His doors allow us—and require us—to submit to our church leadership. Submission is the price of admission.   I pray that he will lead me to the RIGHT doors, and grant me the courage to walk through them, even though I might feel ill-equipped for this new opportunity.  I pray He shuts and locks anything that would be detrimental, and He knows far better than I what that entails.  Finally, I pray that we also can sense when an open door is really just an attempt by the enemy of our souls to derail us from the path God has planned.  I only want the doors that lead me somewhere that pleases HIM.  His doors bring blessing beyond anything we can imagine.

Step away from the crowbar, friends.  Maybe that door is closed for a reason.  You can force your way in, but maybe you’d be better off looking around for the one He’s holding open for you.  And if you’ll get quiet enough, you may just hear Him calling your name.

Update:  After I posted this entry, the following morning, I found a message preached by the anointed Bro. Raymond Woodward, called "A Door God Opens."  He pastors Capital Community Church in Fredricton, New Brunswick, Canada.  It's a powerful message, and gives even better door analogies and insights than I ever could.  I encourage anyone who feels the urging of God to give it a listen!
A Door God Opens--message by Pastor Raymond Woodward