Doors

I was talking to an acquaintance some time ago about an opportunity that I thought was a sure thing until it wasn't.  I was bemoaning the loss of this opportunity, when my friend offered this bit of advice: "Hey brother, when God closes one door, he opens another." 

First, I need to let everyone know that even though it sounds kind of biblical, "When God closes one door, he opens another," is a phrase that appears a total of ZERO times in the Bible.   

I did some research and it is actually more closely attributed to Alexander Graham Bell, who said "When one closes another opens," and Helen Keller, who said "When one door of happiness closes, another opens..."  

BUT I did discover a verse that talks about God and doors in the book of Revelation in my own daily Bible reading today.  Revelation 3:7-8 reads like this:  

"When [God] opens a door, no one can close it. And when [God] closes it, no one can open it... I have put an open door before you which no one can close." 

I've had so many times in my life when I have found myself pounding at the closed doors before me.  I've railed against the ways that my plans have been thwarted at times.  I've also had regrets over missed opportunities on more than one occasions.   

And then there have been the opportunities that opened up before me when I had the mistaken notion that I had something to do with their swinging wide.  I've nearly broken my arm patting myself on the back in some of those instances.  

But in the end, Revelation 3:7-8 reminds us that all of our closed and opened doors are part of God's great big love story for you and me.  

God's plans might be challenging to decipher at times.  We might wonder why one door is closed and another is open, but the one thing we can hold on to with certainty is that God is control of all of it.  We may not be able to know what the future holds, but we can (to use a well-used phrase) cling to the One who holds our future. 

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.  Amen.