Christian Living
Christians often use the phrase, "God will open a door." What does that mean? It can easily become another one of those religious sounding pieces of jargon that is used at church or around other Christians.
In my journey of becoming a published writer and speaker I have seen "doors" open in amazing ways. Sure, it is partly due to being published, but let's lay aside being a published author and talk about the more general sense of God's will and seeking opportunities for one's life. How does a person know that God has opened a door as opposed to it opening through human or natural channels?
First, it begins with having a heart, burning desire, or sense of urgency to do something. A person must have a mission, otherwise, why would he or she pursue something?
We must follow the biblical principles of asking, seeking, and knocking, and delighting ourselves in the Lord, so he will give us the desires of our heart. We must also know our spiritual giftedness. Doors of service and ministry often open up in line with our unique gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit.
Asking means praying for God to give you your hearts desire or to reveal His paths for your life. It's believing that God will connect you with the right people and opportunities, at the right time.
Seeking means making phone calls, writing letters, talking to people, looking at ads, surfing the net, or doing whatever is necessary to find potential opportunities. It means to get moving and to keep pushing forward toward a goal.
Knocking means, once you find opportunities, to persistently but patiently ASK for a chance to do what you are seeking. For example, "I would like to talk with you about speaking in chapel." Sometimes it won't happen right away; you may have to knock again. The timing may not be right. I find it rather interesting that the first letters of Ask, Seek, and Knock spell the word ASK. So, seeking and knocking go along with asking.
When God does open a door it will be so evident that He did it, not you. Even as a published author I have expected people to want information about my background or ability as a speaker, but no, people who hardly know me or have never met me, have invited me to speak after only a casual conversation on the telephone. Other times, however, I have met with people and personally shared my material with them.
Either way, there has never been any frustration in "trying to get the door to open." In fact, it was like I was not even doing it. That is the point. God opened the door. I did not have to be persuasive or convincing. Even though I do have a letter of reference it has never been a part of the process, yet.
When a door opens you must be prepared to walk through. Success is when opportunities and preparedness meet. And sometimes doors open very quickly. If you persistently have done all of the human effort and God's Holy Spirit has completed his "behind the scenes" work, be prepared to roll. I WOULD RATHER MOVE FORWARD TO A POTENTIAL DOOR AND SEE IT SHUT THAN TO DISREGARD IT AND WONDER, FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
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