Open Doors

Focus Statement

A God beginning does not depend upon our strength to force doors open;

it depends upon our faithfulness to walk through the doors Christ already opened.

Point of Relation

First, let me confess, though I grew up in rural America,

I am not a huge fan of country music.

Still, there is some country I absolutely love:

Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and, oh yes, Garth Brooks.

In fact, I was at Garth Brooks’ historic 1997 Central Park concert,

where nearly a million people gathered and he shared the stage with Billy Joel.

Yep. I was there.

One of my favorite Brooks albums is No Fences,

which includes “Unanswered Prayers.”

In the song, Brooks remembers desperately praying that his high school sweetheart would become his wife.

Years later, standing beside the woman he actually married,

he realizes how grateful he is that prayer was not answered the way he wanted.

Sometimes what looks like a closed door

looks very different farther down the road.

Friends, a God beginning does not depend upon our strength to force doors open;

it depends upon our faithfulness to walk through the doors Christ already opened.

Things to Consider

Sometimes we become so focused on the door that will not open

that we miss the one that already has.

What if a closed door is not always a failure?

What if having little strength does not mean God is finished with us?

And what if faithfulness means paying attention

to where Christ has already opened the way?

What Scripture Says

Those questions bring us to Philadelphia,

a church Christ says has “little strength,”

yet remarkably receives no condemnation.

Christ does not tell them to become bigger, stronger, or more impressive.

Christ commends their faithfulness:

they kept Christ’s word and did not deny Christ’s name.

Then comes the promise: “I have opened a door for you that no one can close.”

Notice who opened it.

They did not. Christ did.

We see the other side of this in Acts.

Paul tries to preach in the Roman province of Asia,

but the Spirit prevents him.

He turns toward Bithynia, and again the door closes.

Paul is trying to preach the Gospel, yet twice the answer is no.

Then comes the Macedonian call:

“Come over and help us.”

That open door leads Paul

through Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and eventually Athens.

Later, his vision reaches toward Rome and even Spain.

Perhaps those closed doors were moving Paul toward a future he could not yet see.

Scripture does not explicitly tell us that—

but it does show us that the closed doors did not end his calling.

They redirected it.

Paul’s closed doors were not evidence of failure,

any more than Philadelphia’s little strength was.

Faithfulness does not require us to force the way forward.

It requires us to recognize where Christ has already opened it.

What This Means for You

Maybe there is a door you have been trying desperately to force open.

A closed door does not necessarily mean you failed—or even that God closed it.

But perhaps it is time to stop asking, “How do I get this door open?” and start asking, “Where has Christ already opened another?

Sometimes faithfulness means letting go of the door

that will not move so we can see the one that already has.

What This Means for Us

The same is true for our churches.

Having little strength does not mean God is finished with us,

and a closed door does not mean we have failed.

Remember this as we move forward together.

Our calling is not to force the future we expected,

but to faithfully walk through the future Christ has already opened.

Amen? Amen.