We have all heard them and honestly, we all probably have said them. You know the ones,

“If God closes a door, he opens a window.”

“God never gives us more than we can handle.”

The list goes on…

In my head I see the game show, The Price Is Right and I can hear Bob Barker’s voice right now, Darla, come on down. I run down to the front, all giddy and filled with excitement for all the possibilities that’s about to happen. I see myself up on stage, jumping up and down and there are the three doors. I have to pick. What is behind the doors. Maybe it is … A new car. A trip to some warm resort or a donkey standing there with a beautiful model.

There are times I wish the doors in life were like the doors on this game show. 

The doors of life are anything but a game.  Sometimes we stand in front of them and we do see them opening  in advance and we want to run and never see it again. But, we don’t have a choice. No-one asked us, we must cross the threshold with uncertainty and fear. Yes, I said it, fear. God never told us that there would not be fear.  He just said, Do Not fear, He did not give us that spirit and  He is with us. But, when we first see that open door or get devastating  news, we are rattled, not thinking straight or shaken to our core.

I had a friend text me these questions, Not Good Morning. Not how are you . Just simply through this on the table.

“HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE SUCCESS? HOW DO YOU DEFINE VALUE?”

I asked her, “Success as a whole.” She answered, “Personal Success.” I said , ” Wow, weighty question. Is there a single definition on both? For it means different things to different people.” I shared a quote about success. She said, ‘ NOPE!!!! I want your guts !!! Go deep girl.”

I had to pause and ponder for a few minutes. Once I gave her my answer, I ended it with, “Does this make sense?”  She said, ” Perfect sense, Im excited for your new chapter.”

But, what if your new chapter is not the chapter you wrote. You already made plans, goals for the new year. Admit it,  you want to edit it and be able to control it??? If we do this, we are in our comfort zone.

I read something early this morning. 5 lessons to learn from CLOSED doors. Here goes it…

GOD IS IN CONTROL, NOT ME.
I WANT TO BE IN CONTROL. I THINK I KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR MY LIFE. AFTER ALL, IT’S MY LIFE, RIGHT? I THINK I CAN MANAGE TO CALL THE SHOTS AND MAKE THINGS WORK OUT. I LIKE TO TELL MYSELF ALL THESE THINGS, BUT THE REALITY IS I’M NOT IN CONTROL. GOD IS.

He is the ultimate playmaker; He calls the shots; He leads and I follow. Which doors open and which doors close is His business; it’s His specialty. He has the God’s-eye view of how all this stuff will work out. I only see what’s immediately before me on the ground level.

WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT.
WE TAKE LIFE ONE STEP AT A TIME, RELYING ON GOD TO LIGHT THE WAY STEP BY STEP.
RARELY DOES HE SHINE THAT LIGHT FARTHER DOWN THE PATH AND SHOW US MORE THAN WE NEED TO KNOW. OPEN AND CLOSED DOORS ARE ABOUT FOLLOWING HIM ONE STEP AT A TIME—ANY OPEN DOOR CAN CLOSE AND ANY CLOSED DOOR CAN OPEN. IT’S ALL ABOUT TRUSTING HIM WITH EVERY STEP.

HE IS TRUSTWORTHY.
WE DON’T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHERE HE LEADS US OR WHY. IN FACT, WE RARELY UNDERSTAND IT. WE QUESTION WHY SOME DOORS OPEN AND THEN CLOSE. WE WONDER WHY THE DOOR WAS OPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE QUESTION AND WONDER; AND THE CYCLE GOES ON AND ON.

What we need to remember is that God is trustworthy and He has a reason for everything He does. He doesn’t have to let us in on that reason and often chooses not to. Sometimes we have to just accept that a door is closed and we may never know the reason. But we know the One who closed the door and we trust Him.

GOD USES CLOSED DOORS TO TEACH US SOMETHING.
CLOSED DOORS REFINE US FURTHER. THEY SHAPE US AND CHISEL AWAY MORE OF WHAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE CHRIST IN OUR LIVES.

I’ve found that at times, a closed door has a mirror on it, forcing me to examine myself and showing me something about myself, some part of my character that needs work or a facet of my spiritual life that requires attention. Sometimes God closes a door to reveal something about our relationship with Him—to force us to draw near to Him, seek refuge and direction and even answers.

GOD IS MORE INTERESTED IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
WHETHER WALKING THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR OR PAUSING TO REGROUP AT A CLOSED ONE, DOORS DRIVE US TO SEEK GOD’S GUIDANCE AND HIS WILL. BUT GOD IS MORE INTERESTED IN STRENGTHENING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM THAN HE IS ABOUT US GETTING THE DOORS RIGHT. I NEED TO FOLLOW SUIT. OFTEN, WE PRAY FOR GOD TO SHOW US HIS WILL, SHOW US WHICH DOOR TO TAKE; WE ASK HIM TO OPEN DOORS FOR US.

But we fail to realize that discerning which door to take is more about our relationship with Him than His revealing what’s behind door number one. Recently, my prayer changed from, “Lord, show me Your will,” to “Lord, help me to do Your will.”

I’ve had plenty of experience with closed doors and they rarely close quietly. Often, they hurt, even cause lasting damage. But I’m learning that they don’t need to.

If our perspective is right, if our trust is in the One who both opens and closes doors, and if we focus more on our relationship with Him and less on the door, we will see every closed door as an opportunity to learn something about ourselves and our God.

And in the end, when faced with our next closed door, we will realize that in the Christian walk, closed doors are just as important as open doors.

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I am reading the book, It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way . 

The timing , ONLY GOD.  Lysa describes some of her deepest darkest days in this book. I read this book and I am thinking this is the guideline,  the steps for when those doors are OPEN and we were pushed through them, never wanting to cross the threshold, but here we are. We did not ask for this diagnosis, we would never want to deal with our precious new born dying after 7 weeks in the hospital the entire time. We did not want this marriage to end, the friendship to go South. If we knew in advance,  WE WOULD RUN AWAY FROM THIS DOOR AS FAST AS WE COULD. But, we did not have a choice. We were not asked.

We have to rely on a God that we can’t see and a faith that is blind. 

Lysa wrote, “If you get desperate enough, you will go all in with LIVING SLOW for a while. You will quiet down all the outside noise so THAT God’s voice will be the loudest in your life.  For her she cut out all TV and social media. Cut out reading things online and chose God’s word MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. Cut through the deafening silence of emptiness by filling her home with praise music. Cut out as many extra activities as possible and spent more time with  her kids and friends that came to visit. Cut out having lots of conversations with curious people and INTENTIONALLY sought out sound counsel and friends whom she knew to be safe. Cut out speaking engagements  and pouring herself out for others in that season so she could have time to be poured into.” 

“Sometimes, Slow becomes necessary.”

“During these times, We must let God’s word become the words we believe and receive as TRUTH.”

“We must let God’s word become the words of our story. “

Once again, this chapter I just finished of this amazing book, ends with my LIFE verse. I have it written in my heart. I have it on a bracelet and yet here it is again.

2 Timothy 1:7- God did not gives us the spirit of fear, but of POWER, LOVE AND SELF DISCIPLINE (some versions say SOUND MIND)

What is your life verse to get you through those doors that SLAM SHUT and for the ones that swung WIDE OPEN . Sometimes, it is a season of paradise behind the door and sometimes, anything but.

I don’t know how people that do not know Christ get through tough times. But for me, 

May I keep singing this sweet beautiful song over and over.

…. Let it be said of me…. MY SOURCE of strength , my source of hope, IS CHRIST ALONE. I Place my trust and find my glory in the power of the cross. 

…. Christ ALONE …. CHRIST ALONE…. 

LORD, YOU ARE ENOUGH !