“What matters is not a guarantee about the outcome. What matters is the adventure of the journey.”- John Ortberg
John Ortberg observes in Chapter 1 of All the Places to Go that often God does not tell us which open door to choose. For us, this can be quite frustrating. We want assurance that we’re making the right choice.
Pastor Ortberg states that it took him many years to understand that God may have great reasons for leaving open door choices to us. Open doors help us struggle with our true dreams and motives. When John was contemplating leaving California, his wife’s home, to accept a call to Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area, a friend gave him Dr. Seuss’ book Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss provided John with the following career guidance:
“You have brains in your head
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. . . .
Oh, the places you’ll go! . . .
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.”
Oh, the places you’ll go!– the promise of the God of the open door. God rarely interrupts someone and asks them to remain in comfortable, safe, and familiar surroundings. This very moment is alive with opportunity. In Revelation, John wrote to the church at Philadelphia that what stood before them was an opened door- God was at work. The opportunities before us aren’t merely human. They are not open doors, but opened doors.
Today’s question: What opened doors has God provided during your desert, transitional time? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Moments of divine opportunity”
