Closed doors
One thing I learnt early this year is that God will close some doors. I know the ‘general Christian formula’ is that if doors open it’s God and if they close it’s the devil. We give that fallen angel too much credit. A story I like in the Bible is that of Elijah in 1 Kings 17; not his popular encounter with the widow at Zarephath, but how he got to her.
“5So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”
Last year I had the privilege of sharing the gospel and discipling at a few schools in my area. Evangelism is something quiet close to my heart and I had prayed and God had opened the door. Coming to the end of the year, I assumed that I would be continuing in the following year and so made plans and preparations. But when the year began, I found that God had other ideas. I kept knocking on those same doors but none would open this time and before I could even start binding the enemy, God helped me understand something. That season, short as it was to me, was over for now. It was hard coming to terms with that, I won’t lie, but I had to obey. And this experience reminded and amplified a verse I thought I knew too well.
“We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7
Living by sight is when I start to ‘cram’ God, when I start having formulas of how things worked and should work. But that’s not how God does things. Formulas allow me to be independent, faith forces me to be dependant. When I don’t know what will happen next, when I have no clue how things will come together, when I’m not sure what step I should take next; that’s when I’m forced to depend on God, to look to Him and Him alone.
It was God who had provided water for Elijah through that brook and it was God who knew when it had dried up and gave Elijah a Word. A Word. My provision is not in holding on to things God gave and a Word God said then, but what God says today; today’s provision is in my obedience to today’s Word. Elijah could not accuse God of failing and being unfaithful if he remained in that ravine, God had simply moved on, Elijah had to keep up. And this is where rebuking and binding comes in, when the enemy holds back things I know God ordered me to have today. That is why Elijah did not let that widow go off easy just cause she said she didn’t have food for him, he knew what God said now and so he pushed the door until it opened. We’ll waste so much time and energy forcing doors open which God has closed if we’ll walk by yesterday’s word, and by how it worked yesterday. Seasons come and go, lean on God so you’ll know when it’s time to let go.
“5So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”
Last year I had the privilege of sharing the gospel and discipling at a few schools in my area. Evangelism is something quiet close to my heart and I had prayed and God had opened the door. Coming to the end of the year, I assumed that I would be continuing in the following year and so made plans and preparations. But when the year began, I found that God had other ideas. I kept knocking on those same doors but none would open this time and before I could even start binding the enemy, God helped me understand something. That season, short as it was to me, was over for now. It was hard coming to terms with that, I won’t lie, but I had to obey. And this experience reminded and amplified a verse I thought I knew too well.
“We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7
Living by sight is when I start to ‘cram’ God, when I start having formulas of how things worked and should work. But that’s not how God does things. Formulas allow me to be independent, faith forces me to be dependant. When I don’t know what will happen next, when I have no clue how things will come together, when I’m not sure what step I should take next; that’s when I’m forced to depend on God, to look to Him and Him alone.
It was God who had provided water for Elijah through that brook and it was God who knew when it had dried up and gave Elijah a Word. A Word. My provision is not in holding on to things God gave and a Word God said then, but what God says today; today’s provision is in my obedience to today’s Word. Elijah could not accuse God of failing and being unfaithful if he remained in that ravine, God had simply moved on, Elijah had to keep up. And this is where rebuking and binding comes in, when the enemy holds back things I know God ordered me to have today. That is why Elijah did not let that widow go off easy just cause she said she didn’t have food for him, he knew what God said now and so he pushed the door until it opened. We’ll waste so much time and energy forcing doors open which God has closed if we’ll walk by yesterday’s word, and by how it worked yesterday. Seasons come and go, lean on God so you’ll know when it’s time to let go.
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Amen. I believe we should not ask for wisdom from God because wisdom - loosely put - 'messes' us up and brings discontentment (Solomon - Ecl 1v2), hence the statement, "ignorance is bliss". We should instead ask for more of the Spirit (guidance) because then we will always know what God wants 'now'. Indeed earthly wisdom and experience are 'anti-faith', for in order to walk by faith, one must shut the eye of reason. I fully concur KS.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... issue of not asking for wisdom is interesting, I'll look into it. Fully with you on that closing statement. Thanks again for reading 😉
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