All the Places to Go (Tyndale, 2015)
The full title of John Ortberg’s latest book is All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know? God Has Placed before You an Open Door. What Will You Do? Pastor Ortberg describes an open door as the great adventure of life, because it signifies the possibility of being useful to God. Thus, the subject of John’s book is God’s offer of an open door and our response to it. Faith provides the greatest foundation for the open mind-set needed to cultivate divine opportunity awareness. As the author explains, “The open door is often more about where my insides are than where my outsides are.” We never will be ready or know exactly what we’re getting into. The only thing that matters is that Jesus is ready.
Open doors are divine invitations to make our lives count- with God’s help- for the sake of others. Pastor Ortberg emphasizes God’s primary will for you is the person you become and not the circumstances you inhabit. Prayer is closely associated with seeking and discerning. Prayer is the primary way we communicate with God. When faced with a choice, we need to ask God for wisdom. John clarifies that growth is the ability to handle larger and larger problems, not avoiding those problems. While it is wise to choose our doors carefully, when we choose to go it is imperative to go wholeheartedly! Choice means that sacrifice is involved. Choosing one thing means not choosing another.
Pastor Ortberg underscores the importance of accepting the truth about ourselves if we are to go through an open door. Ultimately, facing the truth about ourselves will bring us life. Although open doors sometimes are neither fun nor safe, open doors always are about something far greater than our own benefit. On the other hand, at times we run into closed doors. While we may not like or understand closed doors, some of the greatest doors are those that never get opened. As John concludes, God has plans we don’t know:
“There is a door that is open to you. In the mystery of divine providence it may have been opened long ago, but it remains open now . . . a divinely-opened door intentionally, thoughtfully, purposefully, deliberately opened by God himself in front of us.”
