In Chapter 4 of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg discusses statements people think are in the Bible but are not to be found there. One is: When God closes a door, he opens a window.” Pastor Ortberg points out that Mother Superior from The Sound of Music says that. The Bible says: “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”- Revelation 3:7
John theorizes that we like the “he opens a window” version because it gives us the opportunity to sneak back in so we can go where we really wanted to go all along. Revelation 3:7 severely limits our options. Gerald Hawthorne (Colossians) describes God’s open doors:
“unlimited chances to do something worthwhile; grand openings into new and unknown adventures of significant living; heretofore unimaginable chances to do good, to make our lives count for eternity.”
Pastor Ortberg add that our ideas about God’s open doors can be full of misconception and superstition- thinly spiritualized wish fulfillment. Divine doors intersect deeply with our desires. Yet we are not the master with God our genie in a bottle. We cannot make getting the right outcome our idol. We need to move forward toward the spiritual growth that is God’s deepest desire for us. John concludes:
“God’s primary will for me is the person I become and not the circumstances I inhabit.”
Today’s question: How have you grown spiritually following your vocation loss? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The day of small things”