Pushing against the wind

Today I’m revisiting a post from a couple of years ago.

It’s around this time of year that I battle headwinds and rain as I cycle to work. As I’ve pushed against the wind in the past I’ve thought 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 unlikely 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 persevered and I have a sense of achievement that I’d never have if it was all downhill with a tailwind.

Kicking Down Doors

As I think about how much good those tough rides are doing me, I start wondering about the 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 disappointed 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?

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?



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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4 Comments

  • That is an interesting one Rodney. At times I have success and failures with both examples. Sometimes things have fallen into place and worked out, sometimes they haven’t. Then as you say sometimes it has been a struggle or we had to persist, but later worked out.

    I think for my wife and I most things that we have felt God wanted us to do has fallen into place, then at some stage early on things have some struggles, but ultimately they work out. The key for us has been praying for God’s will, then once we feel we know it, we move forward in His peace. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is hard, but if we know we have heard from God, we know it will work out for our good and the good of others.

    On a cycling note. I agree with the riding into the wind and up hills. It does make you stronger and then on those rare days, maybe 3-5 a year when there is no wind, you fly and all the hard work is worth it!!!

  • Do you ever read a blog post that seems to be written just for you????

    This is one of those.

    I’m struggling with these issues right now. I want something. Do I push to get it or do I wait for destiny to fall into place?

    I think the issue is that I’m not 100% sure what I want is right for me. And getting what I want would take some major sacrifices. Plus, I need certain other people to be on board with me.

    I guess for now I’m quietly and gently knocking on closed doors. I’m not banging or picking locks….at least not yet ; )

  • Glad to hear that the post hit the spot for you, Dina.

    I guess it’s when we have the confidence of which direction to go that we can start kicking down doors. The tough part, as you’re experiencing, is finding that direction in the first place.

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