In spite of my misgivings, God wanted me in Brisbane—His ways were not my ways! They were higher than my ways, as the heavens are higher than the earth. I was doing the right thing in the right place at the right time with the right people! If I had stayed in my comfort zone in Townsville, none of the things I have achieved over the last 20 years would have happened!

Dr Steve Wallace looked at the subject of open and closed doors in an article in the Watchman Magazine recently. He says: “The Bible teaches God can open doors by His providence (Acts 14:27, 2 Cor. 2:12, Rev. 3:7-8). God desires that we serve Him and He does not leave us unaided. Again and again in his life and travels Paul's heart was gladdened by an open door to preach the Gospel. He found them in various forms in different places. In some instances, an open door presented itself in the form of a synagogue where he could speak to his Jewish brethren (Acts 13:14; 14:1). In other cases he found one on a river bank (Acts 16:13), in a market place (Acts 17:17), the home of a brother (Acts 18:7), a school (Acts 19:9-10), and even a prison (Phil. 1:12-13; Philem. 10). God is still operating providentially. Hence, he is still opening doors. It will do well for us all to remember this.

“(But) if we are going to use our time in seeking open doors to the best advantage we must accept that some doors will be closed. When we recognize a door is closed, Jesus does not want us to waste time on it (Matt. 10:11-14, Acts 13:44-46, 22:17-18) … if the door is closed and we have enough information to know it, the Lord expects us to move on (Matt. 7:6).

“The example of Paul's work in Athens is exemplary here: In spite of how beautiful ancient Athens must have been, the reaction of people there to the Gospel caused him to leave the city and move on (Acts 17:32-18:1). We must take inventory of the results of our efforts and recognize when doors are closed. This may mean moving from one city to another.”

Move In Faith Towards An Open Door

As Dr. Wallace stresses above, there can be closed doors as well as open doors—and if a door is closed, what should be do? Knock? Push? Kick it open? After all, don’t the “violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12)?

In my opinion, if God opens a door, it will be confirmed in many ways, and there will be no doubt. Equally, if God closes a door, no amount of kicking and pushing and shoving won’t open it.

Jesus tells us to ask, seek and knock—and it will be opened to us (Matt 7:7)—but when we ask, we must ask in faith and not be double-minded (James 1:6-7). God expects us to trust and obey Him and move forward in faith if he opens a door in front of us.

If it is a closed door that looks enticing, don’t waste your time—time is our most valuable and scarce resource. God expects us to be good stewards of the time He gives us.

But if it is an open door, then with the Apostle Paul let us say: “… A great door for effective work has opened to me” (1 Cor. 16:9) and let us walk through it in faith and obedience, as the people who know and trust their God will do mighty exploits for Him (Dan. 11: 32).