Have you ever experienced God shutting a door for you? How did you respond?
Were you upset? Grateful? Mad? Confused? Numb? Excited? Nervous? Peaceful? Anxious? There are so many other words we could probably use to describe the response you may have had.
So often we pray for God to show us which door He is opening for us to walk through, but sometimes He shuts doors He doesn’t want us to walk through instead. It’s like a process of elimination.
That seems to be the case for me and my husband. In our experiences, God has always shut doors before He reveals the open door we are to walk through with Him. At the time, the shut doors often don’t make sense but we have learned to trust Him as they are always to our benefit and for our good. I can look back and thank Him for each door He has shut, knowing that it was necessary in order to fulfill the big picture He has for my life.
Here we go again…
This week has been another interesting one for us. As we have been praying for next steps while my husband is healing, God has shut some key doors that I didn’t expect to shut. We have had 3 major doors shut recently. You would expect something like that to make you a little nervous and upset, but it has actually given us a sense of peace, not fear, knowing that God shut them. It has also given us some clarity in options that are “off the table” as we move forward.
I don’t know what it’s like for you, but I have learned to wait– to live out “be still and know that I am God”. I’ve been looking back and reflecting on several key doors that God previously shut in my life and it has been encouraging. Now, I am not here to say that we will always know why God does what He does. There are many experiences in my life that I still wonder about. Why did they have to happen? But, there are times when we do see.
Sometimes things that feel like the worst things we could possibly go through end up later being some of the best experiences for some reason or another and we’re thankful for them. That door that shut was actually a blessing. Some of these key experiences in my own life have truly given me that shift in perspective.
For example…
When we were career missionaries, John got very ill and we had to leave the field permanently for medical reasons. It didn’t make sense at the time and there was no plan B. We came home March 31st of 2009 and it was a rough summer. The Tuesday before Labor Day, John’s gastroenterologist told him that he may be a surgical candidate. We didn’t even know there was a surgical option. He got us in to see the surgeon on Friday. The surgeon told us he would schedule John’s first of two surgeries for the following Tuesday. It was a whirlwind 7 days.
His illness still “didn’t make sense” and we missed the mission field. The day of that first surgery, my mom came over to be with the kids. They told me she was sick all day and not feeling well at all. I told her how much I appreciated it but the kids were fine and she didn’t have to come, as the oldest was 16 and they were all old enough to be home alone. Of course, she wanted to help and to be here with the kids since she missed so many years with them while they grew up on the mission field.
She went to the doctor the next week and was diagnosed with stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer. Looking back, we see the timing of John’s illness and us returning as a blessing. Had that not happened, we would have still been on the field and would have not been here to spend time with her or to help her and Dad as she got sicker and sicker and eventually went home to be with Jesus.
That’s just one example. I could tell so many. But the idea is that God does shut doors. He sees the big picture even when they don’t seem to make sense to us and when we may really still want to walk through that door.
So, how do you typically respond?
As with many of the doors God has shut in my life, I had to take some time to process through a recent change and pray about it. I reminded myself that I cannot always control my circumstances and I can never control the choices other make, but I CAN control my responses and the mindset I take when walking through my circumstances. I choose joy and peace for this one.
What about you?
Do you have an area in your life where God has shut a door?
- Do you need to look at that situation differently and have a different mindset and response?
- What is God calling you to do in your particular circumstances?
- How would your life be different if you responded differently?
My response
It has been a long process of learning (with many “opportunities” to practice 🙂 ), but with our current time of transition, I am praising God as He gives me the peace that passes all understanding and leads me down the path of life. Although some doors are shutting, it’s exciting to see the doors He IS leading me through instead! I love the verse I used for my coaching practice when I called it Path of Life Christian Coaching.
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
What next step do you need to take regarding any open or shut doors in your life?
