I want to speak about dealing with closed doors. Turn with me to John 10:9, "I am the door, If anyone enters by me, he will go in and out and find pasture".
Father, we thank you this morning that you are God and for the great things happening here. As we come to your word we pray that you would speak to us, not only to challenge but to encourage and instruct. Lord, may we decrease and may you increase, in Jesus name, amen.
There is a time in everyone's life when we face closed doors. How many have ever been up against something and you wish it would open and you didn't know what to do? For one reason or another they're there. Something we may have desired or hoped for that doesn't happen or something is taking longer to happen than it should. Through many closed doors it's confusing and disappointing. As a Christian, how we deal with closed doors is important because the truth is we're going to face them at some point in our life. We don't just face them once but many times. I've been at closed doors and hoped they would never open. How many have sat outside the principal's office once or twice? I've been in front of some doors that I wished would open just so I could get it over with, like going to the doctor. I've sat in front of some where I've grown impatient and they wouldn't open in my time. I've gotten to some doors only to find out that I left the key at home.
I must admit that when it comes to closed doors I have a deep curiosity because I want to know what's behind them. I remember when I was about 7 years old and still a part of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church back in Pittsburgh. The choir had been practicing and went to the Fellowship Hall. It was interesting, in that church you would go behind the altar area and there would be a big screen where the baptismal was and that's where the choir would hang all their coats and Pastor Brinkman's office was back there. His door was closed but it wasn't locked and I remember wanting to go and open it and I did. I looked around that office and it was like being with Jesus, it was cool. Then I went around and tried to open every other door in the church. I just want to know what's there. When I drive past these big homes I just want to know what's in them, just to look around. I've got a deep curiosity.
For the Christian, Jesus is the door. He's not just our salvation , he's our life. When we make him our savior, Jesus says that he becomes our door, our guardian and everything that goes on in our life must go through Him. How many of you are thankful that you have a door in your life that knows when to let things in and when to let things out? He's the door. Acts 17:28 says, "For in Him we live and move and have our being". Jesus is our everything and everything that we do goes through him. Literally we go through him for the ins and outs of our life. You should be comforted, not frustrated. How many have ever grown frustrated at the things Jesus lets in and out of your life sometimes? He's the door. The Bible says that we will go in and out and find pasture. That means we will have safety, comfort, food, and the support that we need. In his time, at the right time, he leads us in and out and takes us through the different seasons of life. Shepherds understand what pasture to take their animals to and at what time. Sometimes the one the animals want to go to have absolutely no nutritional value in them at all; sometimes they're too low and sometimes whats in them is dangerous. But when God is our door, he knows when to take us and where to take us.
I've found that many people see closed doors to be a problem but we need to remember that many times closed doors are simply an answer to prayer. "God, what is it that you want? What is it that you're doing? I need your direction". Part of living for God is trusting Him, realizing that he has our best interest at heart. As we grow in the Lord, our capacity to trust him increases, and it must and should. How many trust God with everything that's in you? I have found that Christians go through seasons of life, times when God keeps us closed in and times when it seems like things are wide open. Sometimes I've been frustrated with the different seasons God takes us through but the Bible says that He is the door and through Him we will go in and out at just the right time. Whenever God closes a door he has a reason. When you trust God it feels less like a rebuke and begins to make you feel appreciative for his guidance. How many are thankful for the guidance of the Lord? The truth is he knows far better than we do.
When God says "No", many times the door is not only closed but he locks it. Depending upon our level of cooperation with God, he might have to put a dead bolt on it and a couple sliding chains because many times we want to make sure we open it and go in and out on our own decision. If you've ever tried to force a door open that is well locked you've found out two things, you get really tired and you get really bruised. God says you'll go in and out at his discretion. Some doors are closed and God locks them. If God locks the door and he doesn't give you the key, quit fighting the door and trust Him.
How many have had small children? In our home we had a basement and we used to have a gate and a door. Like I said, I like to go in and out of doors and my mom got one of those latches for the top of the door so I couldn't reach it for years. It was a good thing because I remember one time it was left open and I fell down the basement steps. How many know that God says he is able to keep us from falling? That's one of the reasons why God keeps the doors closed so that we won't hurt ourselves.
Some doors are closed but they're not locked and they're doors of opportunity. When there is a door of opportunity in front of us we must walk through it. I've discovered that some doors can really make or break a building. I never thought about it until I owned a home. The way you have a door on your house really can make the whole look of your home. Some doors are a work of beauty and some doors are so flimsy that you can kick them in with just a little bit of pressure. Some doors don't look like much but when you walk through them there is an open world of opportunity that you had no idea was before you. Sometimes in life opportunity knocks and when it comes to serving God, opportunity is always knocking. You must pay attention when opportunity is at the door. Some Christians say they were just waiting on God and just wondering when he would come through but all I saw was a closed door. How many know if you see a closed door you should always try the handle?
Jesus said in Revelations 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me". When opportunity knocks, open the door. When opportunity knocks, the knob is on our side. God won't force it in. Sometimes opening the door is the process of discovery that you and I need to go through. It's that way with Jesus and it's that way with life. We have a choice when the opportunities come and we can either ignore them or respond to them. What opportunities are in your life right now? What are you taking advantage of? What is God knocking on your heart about and speaking to you about? I've said this verse to you and the Holy Spirit is speaking around this place, and that verse means something different to most people in this room because many of us are in different places of life. Sometimes the doors of opportunity aren't as impressive as we think they should be. Zachariah 4:10 says, "Do not despise the day of small things". The day of small things is the day of opportunity.
There's a story that I just read the other day about a couple that had just been married. They weren't able to leave the reception until late and it was well after midnight when they got to their hotel. They were staying in one of the finest hotels in town and when they got to the door they were excited for their honeymoon night. The groom opened the door and picked up his bride, carried her through the threshold and flipped on the light. They were exhausted, all they could think about was that they had been together all day and had looked forward to this evening but when they looked around the room all they saw was a couch, 2 chairs and a table with a lamp on it. They were so disappointed because they had paid a lot for this room and that's all there was. Then they realized that the couch folded out into a bed so they found the sheets and made the bed. They started to talk and went off to sleep.
The next morning the groom went to check out and of course the bride was very disappointed from the evening. He went down and talked to the manager and said, "I don't understand, we were so excited about the bridal suite". The manager just looked at him and said, "The room you were in was just the sitting room. Didn't you see the door on the other side of the room?" He took the groom up to the suite and told him to go though the door, where all night they had thought it was just another closet. When they finally opened what they thought was an unimpressive closet door it had opened up to the most beautiful bridal suite they had ever seen; a king size bed, great chandelier, chocolates on the table, a wonderful hot tub that was ready and boiling, dinner on the table, everything you could have ever wanted on your honeymoon night. The groom just stood there thinking that all he had had to do was open the other door. The good thing is that the hotel felt bad for them and gave them a night for free.
There are times that God may bring things into our life that don't look very impressive at all: someone that you may disregard, an opportunity that doesn't look like much, but if you had just walked through what God had provided it would have opened up to you opportunities and things that you could never dream of that were much better than you could ever plan yourself. We need to understand that for those who love God he has prepared so much for us in life and we just need to step through the doors he puts in our way. If it's there, take a look around you and realize that God wants to bless you. God has good things for us. Why do we always see the world give us the raw deal? God will never give you a raw deal, he always gives us his best.
Revelation 3:7-8 says, unto the angel of the church of Philadelphia write, these things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. I know your works, I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength, have kept my word and have not denied my name".
When you don't deny the name of Christ, when you serve him , love him and give him your everything, he's going to open doors that the enemy can't even touch. People will try and stand in the way and try to trip up the plans that God has but when you've been faithful to God he's going to see you through and take you to greater things than you ever dreamed in your life. I wonder how many of us have passed by open doors of opportunity where on the other side God had incredible blessings but all we saw was a closed door and we just didn't realize it was unlocked?
Many times God closes doors because where we're going had more to do with our desires and ideas than his. The truth is if we will obey God, he will show where we're to go and what we're to walk through in His time. Acts 16:6-10 says, "Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia but the spirit did not permit them. So passsing to Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us". Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them".
Paul wanted to go to all those places and God said, "No". He doesn't even tell us how he shut the door. Some of them may have just been issues of life and they couldn't catch a boat or go that way because things were complicated. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit told him not to go to certain places; even though he had it in his mind to go and he really wanted to go there. He thought it would be God's will but the Lord said, "No". Some things look right but they aren't and sometimes it can be a process of discovering God's will. Many times God closes doors to prevent mistakes. Just because a path seems clear doesn't mean it's the one God wants us to take.
I'm thankful for Paul that he didn't super spiritualize this thing. He just said, "I thought I was supposed to go here and so I started on my way and God said "No". Then I started over here and God said, "No". Then I thought God wanted me to go over here and God said, "No". How many of you have ever tried to do several things and they just didn't work out and God seemed to shut the door? Sometimes you just don't know. I don't know why that happened and Paul didn't know why it happened but it was the process of going through that happening that he discovered what God's will was. It was at a point when he was ready to receive from God. Sometimes it takes a lot of closed doors before we're willing to see the vision that God gives us and sometimes it takes a lot of things closing in our path so that we're still wrong enough to say "Ok God, then what?" God says, "Now that you're listening Paul, here's where I want you to go". Paul went to Macedonia and great things began to take place.
Many times a closed door seems like a barrier but it is really just a detour sign. We were in the right direction just on the wrong path and the alternate route will yield bigger fruit, more satisfaction and glory to God. Jeremiah 10:23 says, "Oh Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps". We must trust God to direct our steps. I want you to understand that God is in the life giving direction business.
Closed doors are used by God to test our faith and to build endurance. Many of us hate waiting on God. I take my boys to school every morning and I know that if we walk out the door just 2 minutes later than we want then we wind up in line at the High School. I've never seen more slow people in all my life. How many have found that families are very peculiar? As soon as there's a spot then my boys are out of the car. I know if they can get out when everyone else is getting out then that means this, that I'm being polite and all cars are going to go through at the same time. But there's always some parent who decides they're going to take their time and get out of the car, open the door and let their kid out of the car. I'm thinking, "Couldn't you have gone to the other parking lot to do that? I just want to get out of here. I hate to wait, I really do. One day I'm going to put a big old tire in the front of my car and push the line. When everyone is starting to move there's always some teenager who's walking across the street in front of cars that weigh 3000 pounds and they're looking at their cell phone and texting. How many know we need to pray for the youth of America?
Many of us hate to wait so much that we try to pry the doors open and make our own way. Our mantra is "God, let me help you out just a little bit". That's just a dumb idea. What I've also learned is "Long" is subjective. It's based on our attitudes and our expectations. Some see an hour as an eternity and others can wait 20 or 30 years. They are the saints of God and they have no problem with it. Many of us make the wrong assumption that we are waiting on a thing or some thing to happen. I want you to get this if you don't get anything else this morning, we need to learn to wait on the right thing. Often we think that we're waiting for what we've been hoping for but we're not.
Psalms 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the Lord". Psalms 37:9 says, "For evildoers shall be cut off but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth".
No matter how long you wait or no matter what you're waiting on, you are waiting on the Lord. Wait on God, not the situation, not on people, not on things, just wait on the Lord. That will turn our attitude from exasperation to expectation. You know if you're waiting on God then things are going to be ok but if you're waiting on somebody or something you're just going to be frustrated because you never know what somebody or something is going to do. Wait on the Lord.
The truth is we don't know what God is doing on the other side of the door. If we don't move in God's time then we can try and force the door open but we won't like what is unfinished on the other side. Wait on God. Sometimes there are things going on behind the closed door that you don't understand. I hated that when I was a kid, mom would be getting ready for my birthday and I just wanted to get going. She had the door closed and I just wanted to see what was in there but things weren't done yet, they weren't ready. Some of you are waiting on some things, for opportunities or something that you've been praying for and it hasn't happened yet. Wait on God. If you wait on God your attitude will be right. You can really get irritated with other people but if you get irritated with God then you're just doing yourself a disservice. If you're waiting on God the you know that he is holy, he is righteous, he is just and pure and if your attitude gets out of line waiting on someone like that, then that will help you change your attitude.
Closed doors not only give God time to finish a work, it gives us the time to be ready for what he has for us. Like a young man or woman waiting to be a spouse, you wait on God because you may not have found that person yet but the truth is you may not be ready for him yet. You keep thinking it's all about them but you may not be ready. You may walk into that marriage but you're all messed up. If you walk in all messed up then you're going to mess up the marriage. You might be a person who wants to be a teacher or someone who wants to be a preacher but you've got to be ready; God has got to finish the work in you.
Sometimes closed doors leave us feeling trapped. We may be trapped in sin or life's vicious circles or we might even be afraid of certain things but we serve a God who makes a way where there is no way, with Jesus. Jesus is our door. Maybe you're trapped right now in a sin that you can't seem to break or maybe you're trapped in something that you're scared of, but God will always make a way of escape. Sometimes Jesus is our panic bar. That door may be shut by the world and there may be a lock on it but the Bible says that Jesus is the door and you need to just run to Him, he'll make a way of escape.
Jesus says in 1 Corinthians, "No temptation has overtaken you except that which is common to man, but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond which you are able but with the temptation will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it". This is the God of the Red Sea. This is the God who raises the dead; he makes a way where there is no way. You may be in trouble and not see a way out. We sang it this morning, "I need you Jesus to come to my rescue, where else can I go?" He is our door. "Jesus, I need out of here, I need a way". All you might see is a wall and you want to make a door. Jesus says, "Look right here, I'm right here and you don't have to bust through anything, just go through me".
Jesus always makes a way of escape. If you need a way out of sin, if you need a way out of trouble, if you need a way out of sickness, he is the door. Sometimes you just need to ask, "Jesus, where's the door?" You know what he'll say, "Here, I am the door". How many know Jesus is the great "I am"? "Jesus, I'm so sick and I can't take it anymore, how do I get out"? He says, "Here I am, by my stripes you are healed". "Jesus, my family is in more trouble than I know what to do with, how do I get out of this? Jesus says, "I'm the door, here I am". "Lord, my finances are absolutely all bound up in this economy and your word promises me". Jesus says, "Here I am, I'll show you the way". He is our door. So many times we're looking for other things but for the Christian, aren't you glad that everything points to him? He will make a way. Amen.
