For the past couple of days I’ve battled headwinds as I’ve cycled to work. As I’ve pushed against the wind I’ve been thinking about the difficulties we face on the journey of life and how they can impact us.
I guess that a lot of the time we would prefer life to just roll along smoothly without hassles but we know that’s unlikley to happen. To be truthful, while I’d rather not battle headwinds all the time, I don’t really mind them that much. I know that when I’m pushing hard and seemingly getting nowhere that I’m building strength. I enjoy the challenge of getting to my destination knowing that I’ve perservered and I have a sense of achievement that I’d never have if it was all downhill with a tailwind.
As I was thinking about how much good the ride was doing me this morning, I started wondering about reasoning that says that we know we’re following the right direction for our life when circumstances are easy or when things ‘fall into place’. We talk about God ‘opening doors’ and ‘shutting others’. Well, sometimes I think we need to discover what God wants us to do, which isn’t always an simple thing, and then go out and kick down a few of those closed doors.
I cringe when I hear people using easy circumstances as God’s stamp of approval. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that sometimes God does give us an easy passage to accomplish his purposes but if we expect that to always be the case I think we’ll be dissapointed more often than not. I do believe, and it’s been my experience, that God will sometimes open a way that previously seemed permanently shut and we need to be sensitive to that and walk through when it’s right but not just assume that if we do the right thing that life will simply fit neatly together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Of course taking the opposite view, that following the right path will always be difficult and that taking the easy way is always wrong is equally flawed.
In the end, I believe that stopping at closed doors and walking through open ones isn’t always a recipe for right living. We need to be wary of who’s hand is on those open doors.
What’s your experience been? Have you had to struggle to find the way through? Have you had to kick down a few closed doors along the way? Have you walked through an open door only to find that it’s produced more problems than it has solved? Have you also experienced those times when God has very clearly guided you through an open door?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Difficulties – Spirituality – Faith
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I guess I’m one of those people who look for ‘open doors’. Maybe we shouldn’t always walk away from what seems to be a closed door because God is always working for our good and he may be stopping us now but could open it for us later on. It’s hard to know when to accept the door really is closed or if we need to persist and kick harder. Isn’t there an example in Acts when Paul was going to preach the gospel somewhere but God stopped him? I guess it depends what we’re trying to do/asking for. I could be praying to win Lotto and assume because I haven’t won that God doesn’t want me to. Then I have to ask – why do I want to win Lotto, what’s my motivation? Scripture can give us some guidance on what doors we DEFINITELY shouldn’t walk through even if they seem open. I don’t want to win Lotto by the way – just an example 🙂
Thankyou Rodney for this post. It is particularly relevant to me at the moment. I feel as though I am needing to go back and kick down alot of doors at the moment, but that in doing so I am becoming a better person for it. I have been taking the easy road for too long and it has caused numerous problems in my life. Some doors are easier to kick down than others. Some are too fragile to kick down and require consistent nudging. Other doors I am not even aware of yet, but I know they are lurking there in the shadows just waiting to be dicovered. I see God’s hand in this, only revealing the doors I am able to cope with at the moment, but there all the same gently guiding me.
This is a good point. It is so hard to know what to do at times. Maybe the key is to always ask God? Is this an open door I should walk through? Is this a closed door I should kick down? Or is this a closed door I should politely knock on and wait for it to be opened?
Proverbs 16:9 springs to mind – In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
As the Bible verse says, the wide door is easy to walk on, but lead to destruction. In many incidents in my life, esp romance (first thing comes into mind as I think about “incidents” lol), God has guided me along the narrow but truly difficult path to travel on.
I definitely kicked many closed doors along the way and also went into many wrong doors before I finally found (I think) the right one.
But in all things, I rejoice and give thanks. we should not only thank God for blessings, but also for struggles, because without which, we would never learn to depend on Him the way we had when we went through all that sh*t. We would never become strong in faith and also as a person in today’s world.
God is GREAT. And as much as I sometimes wish I could wipe my entire past of the slate, in a way, those blemishes along the way have moulded me into the more matured person that I am, and so I thank God for that aspect.
I guess there are different ways to look at a particular incident. I prefer to pray for guidance and thank God – whatever the outcome – because I believe He has a plan for me, and if it is His will for these things to fall upon me, then be it. Because His plan for me is the most perfect plan I could ever ask for 🙂
Sometimes when I pray for God’s guidance, I will pray that He will “open the door “if it be His will.Of course, sometimes God uses people and circumstances and His word to guide us too. So, it boils down to being sensitive to Him, right?
I completely agree that there are some ‘doors’ that require some ‘kiciking in’. We all know that when we are doing what God wants us to do, Satan hates it and so often throws ‘stuff’ (doors or whatever) into our path to try and discourage us from living the life God is calling us to. He (Satan) wants nothing more than for us to turn away and give up in times of struggle. This is the time when we need to draw ever nearer to God and draw upon His strength and wisdom to get us through. Remember, He (God) will never put you through anything that you cannot handle with God by your side, leading you and backing you up.
Thanks for your comments on this one. Good to see a number of well thought through responses.
There have been times when I felt like kicking down a door, but I had to ask God for His guidance, and have patience to wait until the time was right. I believe we can really get ahead of what God wants us to do, if we rush in there without praying about the situation before acting.
Thanks, Barb. Great to have you dropping in.
I agree that we can’t get ahead of God and we need to wait for the right time but I think there are situations where we just hang back hoping that God will make the road smooth while he’s calling us to persevere and push through. Walking with Jesus isn’t always easy.