And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. - Revelation 3:7-8

Let the glory bumps roll!  What a great verse for those of us who are weary in well doing.  God opens doors no one can shut and shuts doors no one can open.  He’s in complete control.  He will open the doors of opportunity as He sees fit and close doors that He doesn’t want us going through.  We may not understand His reasoning, but that’s okay as long as we follow His guidance.  We must let Him lead.  After all, He has the key.

We’ve been in the process of upgrading some of our home functions to smart functions.  On the whole, I’m happy with the upgrades, but there are still a few things that need a little tweaking.  For example, the smart lock on the side door doesn’t seem to be any more intelligent than the “dumb lock” we were using before.  It’s having some issues syncing with the rest of the system, which makes it unreliable at best and downright frustrating at worst.

With this particular smart lock, we are supposed to be able to approach the door (with our cell phones in our possession), at which point, the door automatically unlocks.  Sometimes it does, and other times, we’re left standing on the step, pushing buttons on our phones and eventually pulling the keys out of our pockets to open the stupid door.  Jason is trying (in his spare time) to work out the kinks in the system, and once he does, I believe the lock will be an asset rather than a nuisance.

Sometimes in life, we stumble upon doors with “smart locks” that are tuned to God’s programming.  We stand at the door, pushing buttons and wringing our hands, but all to no avail.  The doors won’t open.  So, why do we keep pounding on them?  The Bible makes it clear that God will open the right doors at the right time.  If the door in front of us isn’t opening, it’s either not the right door or not the right time.  Either way, we’re not getting in.

Other times, we come upon doors standing wide open, but we don’t enter for fear of the unknown.  What if we don’t like what’s on the other side?  What if life on that side of the door is tougher than life on this side?  Yes, the what-ifs hold us back and keep us from God’s best.  I’m not saying we should jump through every open door because that would be unwise.  That being said, if we come upon an open door, we should at least consider the possibility that God placed it there for us and seek His guidance on the matter.

We’ve seen this principle of God opening and closing doors at work in our mission endeavors.  On a particularly trying day, Jason and I were discussing how fruitless his efforts seemed.  He was making the calls, leaving messages, and sending emails, but he had nothing to show for it.  Then, a call came in from a pastor we hadn’t contacted.  We had been referred to him by a member of our mission board, and he wanted to book us for a meeting.  He even went so far as to mention that, after looking at their faith promises pledges, they were pretty sure they’d be able to take us on for support.  Talk about an open door!

Dear one, sometimes it may seem like “fate” is out to get you or like you can’t catch a break, but I want you to remember this promise—God is the doorkeeper.  If He’s closed a door in your life, there’s a reason.  Trust He has your best interest at heart and leave that door alone.  And be on the lookout for open doors and God’s guidance to go through them.  Blessings are in store for those who trust and obey, and no one can hinder that!