Myths About Open Doors

“This, too, shall pass.” “God helps those who help themselves.”  “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” Sounds biblical, but these phrases are not in the Bible. That happens quite a lot. “God will never give you more than you can handle.”  You’ve heard that before.  The Bible says, God will not allow someone to be ‘tempted’ beyond what they can stand, but the Bible never says God will not allow you to be given more than you can handle. People are given more than they can handle all the time.

“When God closes a door he opens a window.” Yet, the Bible says, “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (Revelation 3:7) Our own desires and ideas about God opening doors can be full of misconception and superstition, maybe even spiritualized wish fulfillment.

People have told their soon to be spouses, “You can’t break up with me; God already told me you’re the one.” Sometimes we cite God opening a door to justify our choices.  When I try to use God the way someone uses a magic eight ball or a horoscope I make God my genie in a bottle. 

Here are some myths about divine doors.

If I’m unclear about which door to choose I’m doing something wrong.
Big decisions are rarely simple. We can say, “God just tell me what to do.”  Sometimes were not looking so much for God’s will for our lives, but to simply be relieved of the anxiety that comes with taking responsibility for making a decision.  God is the door opener, but not a magical enabler.

God’s will for your life often is, “You decide.” God cares more about whom you are becoming and not so much what you do for a living, were you live or who you marry. He wants you to become a person of character and love.  

Sometimes God may have a specific assignment for you and God is perfectly competent to make this clear. But it’s helpful to understand that a lack of guidance from heaven regarding which door to choose does not mean that either God or I had failed. God knows that I would grow more with having to grapple with a hard decision than if I got a memo from heaven.

An open door means the way will be less difficult or easy.
If I choose the right door, I’ll be able to tell because my life will get easier. If this is my criteria for door judging, then every time I hit “hard,” I can doubt God, myself, and my choice. When God calls people to go through open doors, what generally happens is life gets much harder.

“A wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 16:9

Not just a door, but a wide door.  Paul knew that resistance and opposition was part of the confirmation of the door God had opened for him. Avoided trouble is tempting, but not the path to maturity. Jesus never said, “Your life will be easy.” Jesus used the word easy only once, but it wasn’t about our circumstances.

He did say, “I’ll give you an easy yoke.’’ A Rabbi’s yoke was a way of saying a follower would take on his way of life. That is, daily receiving God’s transforming grace that brings peace and strength beyond yourself that will enable you to live life to the fullest. Are you?

Join us next time for more myths about doors.