Open Doors Aren't Always Meant to be Walked Through...

Being in church all of my life I have often heard many people talk about how they can see an "open door" in their life. People see a new or open opportunity and automatically think that since the door is open, if you will, that they are supposed to walk through it. They do not stop and take the time to take it to God, compare it to scripture or spend time meditating on what God's will exactly is. They simply see an opportunity and assume that it is God's will. Well, in the words of a friend "You know what assuming does!?!"

One of my favorite things in the world is to read a chapter of scripture that I had read hundreds of times before and get something new out of it. This happened to me back in July with Acts 16. I was studying through the book of Acts and was searching for a short devotion to share in staff meeting the next day. I rolled my eyes and when I got to Acts 16 simply because it was a story I knew by heart and I heard it year after year in Sunday School since I was a small child. As I began to read God opened my eyes to something new and exciting and it has been fresh on my mind the past few days because I have been struggling with what to do with my life.

Paul and Silas were in prison for simply casting a "spirit" out of a young girl. They were severely beaten and then thrown into jail. They did not sit and moan, but they prayed and sang praises to God. In the middle of the night an earthquake came and the prison door was opened and their chains were loosed. They had an open door to leave, but they didn't. When the guard realized what was going he went to kill himself because he figured all of his prisoners had escaped, but Paul and Silas had not. Because they stayed, the scriptures tell us that he and his whole family came to the saving knowledge of Christ.

Soak it in and hang with me...

Many times in our lives opportunities arise. Sometimes a "door opens" and it can serve as a bail out for us to get out of things we do not want to be apart of anymore. Time after time I feel the desire to quit, to give it all up, to get out of the ministry in which God has called me to enter. The pressure, the people, the stress, and even the world makes me so mad that I am just ready to get out! If an opportunity arises why not bail out? I mean it is "God opening the door" anyway right? WRONG! Paul and Silas had an open door... It made all the sense in the world for them to get out of that jail, but the didn't. Why? I have no clue, but I suspect they did not because they knew they were exactly where God had called them to be. They stayed when it didn't make any sense and I'm sure they didn't want to stay. I mean who wouldn't want a get out of jail free card? But they didn't, they stayed where God wanted them to be and look what happened... The prison guard and his ENTIRE family came to the saving knowledge of Christ. WOW, all because they did not walk through the open door.

I say all of this to simply say this: Stick with it. God has put you where you are for a reason. Yes, God might be opening a door for you to go somewhere else, but don't give in or up because you are sick and tired of doing whatever God has called you to do. 2 Cor 4:16 says "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." In the Message Translation (I know, just bare with me) towards the end of Acts 16 in verse 34 it says that night was "a night to remember."

My challenge to you is that God has you where you are for a reason... don't bail out, don't give in, stick with it. Although it might not make sense and there is a chance to get out, stay with it... God has you where you are, doing what you're doing for a reason... Your night to remember is coming!

Pressing On.