Doors and Girls

Posted by Mitzi Gresham on Jun 17, 2010 in Daily Bread | 3 comments

I’ve been praying allot the past few years for direction and pursuing obedience in my life in ALL areas….because I know that when I direct myself I make big mistakes because apart from Him I’m just a stupid sheep- Baaaa!!  I need to pray for guidance because I need to know how to interpret my circumstances.  It’s a common occurrence for us Christians to speak or look for open and shut doors. We seem to think that when something or someone (insert subliminal message to singles!!) looks like a sweet opportunity, it’s viewed as an open door. When something or someone is not cooperative it’s viewed as a closed door.  It’s not always that cut and dry……truuuust me! And we have the tendency to look at the door and not at God’s word when we have these opportunities.  As Henry Blackaby writes in Hearing God’s Voice, it’s important to view open and shut doors against the truth of Scripture.  I know you really want to hear from me but Henry’s got some great stuff to say…..

The problem with open doors is the emphasis is erroneously placed on the door rather than on God. Some people enter open doors under the mistaken assumption that God only allows good opportunities to come their way. Therefore, any good opportunity that comes along must be from God. Looking for open doors can appear easier than developing a relationship with God. Various opportunities, including questionable business opportunities and marriage proposals, can be treated as open doors. As you might imagine, this can often lead to disastrous results!

If decision-making were based entirely on open doors, people would not need a relationship with God; they could merely become "door watchers." Moses saw an open door to deliver a Hebrew being oppressed by an Egyptian. He went through it, and it cost him forty years wandering in the wilderness (Exod. 2:11-15). King Saul seized an opportunity to offer an unauthorized sacrifice to God, and it cost him his kingdom (1 Sam. 13:8-9). King David stumbled through an open door to an improper relationship with Bathsheba, and his house was filled with violence and heartache for the rest of his life (2 Sam. 11). Conversely, David twice had the opportunity to murder King Saul. Doing so would have removed his greatest enemy and opened the door for his rightful place as king. Yet both times David wisely recognized the opportunity before him was not from God (1 Sam. 24, 26). Simply entering an open door without checking to see if God opened it can bring catastrophic consequences.

Ok, I’m back! Henry’s words make me want to speak to the single gals out there….this isn’t so subliminal…..this is straight up truth and something I failed in and don’t want to see any others get out of alignment.   Ok, so, if we as single Christian women are asked out by an unbelieving man or a man that doesn’t push us closer to God, we know that this open door is not from God because God’s word commands that believers be equally yoked and more importantly that women who have the freedom to make their own choices in marriage marry only in the Lord (1 Cor. 7:39). Heck yeah, allot of us want to get married. And yes, this is a guy asking us out. But this door cannot be viewed as an answer to prayer, because prayer is the means of aligning ourselves with God’s will.  Shut that door ladies! 

"The Holy Spirit helps us pray in agreement with what God is saying (Rom. 8:26). Our natural tendency is to meet God’s Word with unbelief. The Holy Spirit works to align our heart and mind to accept all God is saying. " – Henry Blackaby