Have you ever had that happen?  You just look up one day and there is an open door; a new opportunity has presented itself.

In Revelation 3 Jesus told the church in Philadelphia, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.”

In Second Corinthians Paul said that he went somewhere and what did he find?  He found that “the Lord had opened a door” for him.

So this idea of open doors is not just some made up Christianese.  It’s not what some call “preacher talk.”  It’s a real thing that occurs.  God opens doors.

Most Christians probably agree with that.  The problem is not believing it, it’s properly identifying it when it happens.

Oh if God would just label those doors better!  Shoot off some fireworks, or turn on a siren and a flashing light.  “Hey look, I’m opening a door!”

Because face it, we live in the land of opportunity.  In a sense there are open doors everywhere.  Opportunities abound, especially if you are ready to work hard and think creatively.

But this is how I’ve handled it.  This is just me, so take it for what it’s worth, but I have spent my entire Christian life praying that God would open and close doors.

Has He answered that prayer?  Is that how my life has worked?  Well I can’t prove it, but I think that’s what’s happened many times.

For example, my wife and I made an offer on a house.  There had been no other offers on the house, but we liked it and decided to buy it.  Now this was my prayer, “Lord, if this is a good house for us, please open the door; but if not, please close it.”

Shortly thereafter our realtor called and said that two other offers had suddenly come in on the house.  What interesting timing!  The realtor wanted to know if we wanted to raise our offer, just in case the others were higher than ours.  Well I just thought back to my prayer and I thought, “What are the odds of this happening, that two other offers suddenly came in on a house that had had no previous offers?”
So you know what?  I took that as God closing the door.  Now I can’t prove it.  Maybe He did and maybe He didn’t, but that is the way I prayed, and that is the way I took it.

I remember back in the 80’s, when I decided to get into Christian radio.  I sent out resumes to every Christian station in the state and prayed that God would open one door, and only one.  I figured that if I had more than one opportunity I would probably pick the one wrong.  Well I think God answered my prayer.  I heard from several stations, but only one had an immediate fulltime opening.  I took the job and worked there for about 20 years.

Now some people criticized me for that, and I admit, I don’t have a good comeback for them.  Some would say, “Don’t just leave your job up to fate like that.  Target the best job and go for it.  Don’t wait for an open door, knock on a closed door.  Kick it down if you have to.”

I guess part of it comes down to being guided by the Holy Spirit.  If the Spirit gives you a goal to shoot for, then do it.  I agree that not every door will be gracefully opened for you.
For example, I was reading about Brother Andrew’s delivery of a million Bibles to a beach in China one night back in 1981.  Time magazine called it a “bold expedition.”  Well I’m sure the Chinese government didn’t just open the door and invite them in.  And yet what is the name of Brother Andrew’s worldwide ministry?  “Open Doors.”

In Acts chapter three we read about a man that was healed.  His healing drew a big crowd, and the Apostle Peter noticed.  He saw an opportunity, an open door.  He took advantage of it and preached to the crowd.

But now look at First Samuel 24.  David and his men were hiding in a cave, and suddenly King Saul was right there in front of them.  David truly had an open door to kill King Saul, and his men encouraged him to do it, even saying that God had given the opportunity.  But David knew better.  He only cut off the corner of Saul’s robe to prove that he could have killed him, and later even felt guilty for that.  So not every opportunity is a door opened by God.

First Corinthians 10:23 points out that not everything is helpful or beneficial.  So when you see an open door, ask yourself this.  Is it beneficial?

We need discernment.  We need to know the Word.  We need to know the voice of the Holy Spirit.  And we need to seek wise counsel from mature Godly believers.

So keep your eyes open for open doors, then like it says in Ephesians 5:16, make the most of every opportunity.

That’s the way I’ve tried to live, because that’s the way I think it works.

I really do believe it – that God Himself opens doors.