“But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door of effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”- 1 Corinthians 16:9
“Easy doesn’t come from the outside. It comes from the inside.”- John Ortberg
In Chapter 4 of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg presents the third common myth about doors.
3. If it’s really an open door, my circumstances will be easy. Applying this myth to vocational doors, Pastor Ortberg notes that we falsely assume that the right job will bring daily passion and fulfillment. Our performance reviews will be off the charts. Coworkers who we find difficult to get along with quickly should self-identify their primary role in the discord and move on to another job.
John describes the problem when we desire the easy road:
“If ‘easy’ is my criterion for door judging, then every time I hit ‘hard’, I will be filled with doubt about God, myself, and my choice.”
An open door does not come with the promise of an easy life. In fact, John notes, when God calls people to go through open doors, generally life gets much harder. The apostle Paul took the presence of many adversaries as confirmation of the wide door God had opened.
When Jesus said, “My yoke is easy” (Matthew 11:30), He was offering internal ease of spirit- peace and joy in the midst of adversity. If we experience easy on the inside, we can withstand hard on the outside.
Today’s question: Is your current focus easy on the inside, or are you aiming at easy on the outside? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Small, quiet invitations”
