Did you ever walk briskly toward a door, naturally expecting to open it and walk through in stride, but it was locked? Face plant! OK, full body plant. It’s bad enough when no one is looking, even worse when you leave an audience laughing like a night at the improv. Sharing the love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ with others can be like this in a way—some doors of the soul swing wide in welcome, while others lock out the words of life. As I wrote in my first book, Christ in Me, “Many times over the years, I’ve turned away from clear calls to witness, share, or serve and felt awful about it. Other times, I’ve tried to force my own opportunities and felt stupid. But isn’t it exhilarating when we see a God-opened door, take a deep spiritual breath of trust, and then step into the moment? Those are the times we savor. Watch for them.”1
We must realize this: it is God who opens doors in those who would welcome Him, and He accompanies us when we step through them as couriers of the gospel message of new and forever life in Christ. To this end, Paul appealed to the Colossian church for their prayer support: “Pray for us . . . that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”2 It is God who opens hearts, and it is He who gives us clear words to reach them.
To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”3 What can we conclude about “a great door” that has opened, but that it was once impenetrably shut? So we take courage when encountering closed doors, for they may open at any time. Pray for them. Watch for them. Then step inside.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.4—Jesus
Father, You open gospel doors in hearts all around us, every day. Grace us to watch for them, to wait for them, and to step through them with the words You give us to speak. Thank You for those who spoke Your words of life to us. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Paul Nordman, Christ in Me, (Maitland, Florida: Xulon Press), 84.
2 Colossians 4:3-4
3 1 Corinthians 16:8-9
4 Revelation 3:20
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