Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Woodrow Kroll
Doors We Can’t Open or Shut
Jesus once said that He is the One “who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens” (Rev 3:7c). The idea here is that God is the One Who opens doors which no human can open and He shuts doors that no one can shut and we have no business trying to jimmy the lock. Believe me, I have tried to do this and it doesn’t work very well. If God opens a door He does so with the expectation that we’ll walk through it, otherwise He wouldn’t open it in the first place but if He shuts a door, He expects us to know that the door He has shut means we need to stay out! Besides, only Jesus has the key (Rev 3:7).
God Alone Opens Doors
When Jesus spoke to the Church of Philadelphia in the Book of Revelation He said “I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut” (Rev 3:8) which might also mean that we must sometimes wait for God to open doors for us. As I somewhat touched on before, it is pointless trying to open a door that is shut because only God opens doors but as Woodrow Kroll so rightly said, when He closes a door He may open a window. That window might be thought of as a way we can look out to see what God is up to…it could be so that we can see what God is going to do next or maybe He wants us to be able to see out the window so we can wait patiently for the next door to open.
One Door Closes, Another Door Opens
I have found from experience that when God closes one door it opens another. I trust God and we must trust Him enough to know that if He closes a door He does so for our own good. It’s not so much “don’t do that” but “don’t do that and get hurt” and we can hurt ourselves by trying to force open a door that God’s shut. He knows what He’s doing and can see around the corner of time…we cannot. The Master Builder knows which doors are the best ones for us to walk through and knowing our stubborn nature, just like sheep, He knows He must shut certain doors or we’ll blindly walk right through them and step off a cliff.
Conclusion
God opens doors that we can’t, He shuts doors that we can’t, He alone can open doors and when He closes one, He usually opens another but we must wait on the perfect timing and trust Him. He’s the only One Who’s got the key (Rev 3:7). Wait for God to open that door and never try (like I have) to kick any door down because trying to open a door that God’s shut is a lesson in futility.
