When God Closes the Door...

There’s an old TV game show that used to be on the air that was quite unique… and maybe even a bit on the obnoxious side… especially for its day. The TV show was called “Let’s Make A Deal.”

I realize it is still on TV in a remake form… The show featured players who came dressed in all kinds of outlandish costumes in hopes of making the deal of a lifetime. How far would they press their luck? How much were they willing to risk as they hoped to make the deal… even better?

For me, one of the more memorable parts of the show happened when the contestant stood staring at the stage with three “door” possibilities to choose from. “Which door will it be? Door number one… door number two… or door number three?” The player would jump or dance around as they hoped to make the right choice while they faced the chance of making a wrong choice.

Which door will it be? What “opportunity” will you take? Will you go with what you’ve got or will you walk through one of the presented doors?

The interesting part of this game show was… ALL THE DOORS WERE CLOSED, AND THE CONTESTANT MADE THE CHOICE REGARDING WHICH ONE THEY WANTED OPENED.

Sometimes life feels like a game of chance. Sometimes it can feel like we are faced with multiple options regarding what to do and which way we should go. We might have an idea of what is behind each door… but we really don’t know until the door is opened and we walk through it.

But tonight… I want to encourage us with a Word before we begin to pray. With God… life is NOT a game of chance… but is a walk by faith. There is a big difference here. Our God does not operate off of happenstance… Our God has a plan. Our God has a purpose. When our trust is placed in Him, Proverbs 3:6 says our God will make our path straight.

Tonight you’re not here dressed up in a crazy costume negotiating with a game show host trying to make the best deal you can make. But all of us know how crazy this life can get… as we try to navigate through all the different things that can happen… sometimes hoping to just get to the other side of the situation without too much trouble or damage.

God has given us a helper. Jesus identified Him as an advocate… someone who was given to us by God to help us make it through the difficult times and choices of this world. His name is the Holy Spirit… and He is here to help.

Here’s the deal: When we are faced with having to make a choice… when we are trying to figure out which door to walk through… I pray your FIRST choice is to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Paul and his traveling companions knew how important this truth was. As they traveled throughout the region to bring the gospel message to the lost… they choose to trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit. They were presented with multiple opportunities… but they desired to be obedient to the Spirit of God.

Acts 16:6 is where we pick up the story. 6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Which door will it be? What opportunity would the traveling missionaries take?

There was opportunity in the province in Asia… door number one… but the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching there.

There was opportunity at Bithynia… door number two… but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to enter.

Was God trying to keep these people from hearing the Word? Why was the Spirit leading these guys to keep going? We may never know the answer to this question but this we DO KNOW: GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!

Finally, Paul has a vision of a Macedonian man begging them to come help them. They make the conclusion that God was leading them to go there and notice something very important… THE DOOR REMAINED OPENED. The team, therefore, followed the guidance given to them by God.

Door number one looked promising… but God closed the door. Door number two had all kinds of potential… but God closed the door. Door number three was revealed through a vision… and in their obedience to the Spirit’s leading, they walked through the door.

Life by Faith, Not by Chance.

Here’s the point I want to make very clear to us this evening. These guys were not looking to walk through the door that fit their agenda. These guys were not looking to weigh out the options to see which opportunity was the best opportunity. THESE GUYS TRUSTED GOD TO OPEN THE RIGHT DOOR, AND TO CLOSE THE WRONG DOORS.

ONLY GOD KNOWS what is waiting on the other side of any door of opportunity. We can only guess and assume what might be waiting for us on the other side.

There have been multiple times in our lives when it seemed like a door of opportunity opened up… only to have God close the door and sometimes… rather abruptly. And in my younger days of ministry… there were a couple of times that I didn’t understand what God was doing.

“But God… don’t you see the potential that I see in this possibility? Don’t you understand what I understand about this next opportunity?” These were my arguments… but the doors remained closed.

They say hindsight is 20/20 right? Looking back… I can see why God led our family in different directions and I can see how much He has blessed us in doing so. Not every “deal” that comes our way is all that it makes itself out to be!

What kind of doors are before you? What kind of decisions need to be made? What kind of possibilities or crossroads are you facing?

You might have an idea of what is waiting on the other side of each door… but I encourage to have your mind made up on one thing: If God closes the door, choose not to walk through it.

The traveling missionaries could have defied the direction given to them by the Holy Spirit and the story would have had a different ending. The choice to follow was theirs to make.

When God redirects our steps or closes a door… DO NOT TRY TO FORCE THAT THING OPEN! From what I have experienced doing so will ONLY lead to regret. Again, with hindsight being 20/20 and can recall times when I did things my way… when I thought I knew what was best… when I kicked open the door God had so obviously closed. EVERY TIME ENDED WITH REGRET! Why didn’t I listen to God.

You will NEVER REGRET going where the Holy Spirit leads you to go. You will NEVER REGRET doing what the Holy Spirit leads you to do.

He is not leading your by chance… He is leading you by faith. His leading requires that we trust in Him and understand that God knows what He is doing.

Let’s Make A Deal

So tonight… lets make a deal with God. Let’s get settled on what we are going to do when we are facing life’s many choices.

Here is the deal I would encourage you to make: God… where you lead me I will follow. God… I will only walk through the doors you are opening.

The greatest “deal” we could ever make in this life is the offer that Jesus has given all of us through His death and resurrection. That offer is to be born again. That offer is to die to sin and come alive in Christ.

Consider this… Jesus is the host and He makes clear that what we have… where we are at is sin. And if we stay where we are and keep what we have we will perish. But Christ offers the forgiveness of our sin AND eternal life for anyone who would believe and place their faith in Him. Church… is there any better deal out there than that?

So what’s the catch? What’s the angle? The angle is in the offer… you must be born again, you must walk away from sin… you must let the old go and embrace the new.

And in making the decision to take Jesus up on His offer… we also walk away from a life of chance and embrace a life of faith… a life that is led by the Spirit.

Now… consider this. GOD OPENED THIS DOOR FOR ALL WHO WOULD BELIEVE. And it’s by faith that we walk through it.

Prayer points for this evening.

Point One: God, open the right doors and close the wrong doors.

Point Two: God, help me to listen to and obey the leading of Your Holy Spirit.

Point Three: God, help me to live and walk by faith, led by the Spirit. Help me NOT to walk by chance and by the flesh.