“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”- Revelation 3:7
In Chapter 9 (“Thank God for Closed Doors) of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg admits that generally he doesn’t like or understand closed doors. Closed doors discourage us. We feel as if our lives are diminished and God doesn’t care.
Prayer is an important factor here. Pastor Ortberg observes that the single greatest motivation for prayer is answered prayer. Answered prayer encourages us to pray more. Conversely, the greatest demotivater for prayer is unanswered prayer. Yet, John emphasizes:
“Surely it must be a good thing that God alone has the power to shut in such a way that what is shut cannot be opened.”
Closed doors that frustrate us at the time often become occasions for gratitude later on. We may never know for sure in our lifetime whether we should keep knocking on closed doors or let go and move on. John states God has greater things in mind for us than “knowing for sure.” Yet, gaining clarity on why some doors shouldn’t be opened helps us differentiate between knocking and moving on.
In the next part of Chapter 9 John discusses four things God may be up to with closed doors in our lives.
Today’s question: What closed doors have you been thankful for in retrospect? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Unanswered prayers”
