A Prayer for the Door that Was Closed
By Lynette Kittle
“Ask and will probably be given to you; search and you will see; knock and the door will likely be opened to you” – Matthew 7:7
When you’ve been round cats a lot, you’ve in all probability seen how they don’t like closed doorways. Cats can have each door in a house opened to them besides one, and will probably be the door they sit in entrance of and plead to be opened, even seemingly devising methods to get by way of it. Nonetheless, earlier than criticizing cats for his or her fixation on a closed door, contemplate human nature. Doesn’t it sound acquainted, like a backyard stuffed with lavish fruit apart from one forbidden tree? As a substitute of having fun with all the opposite fruit within the backyard, Adam and Eve needed to style fruit from the one and solely off-limits tree.
After we’re confronted with a closed door, it could be helpful for us to think about each Adam and Eve’s story, and possibly even cats, too, as a result of God generally reveals reality to us by way of them.
What Makes a Closed Door Appear So Irresistible?
Though I didn’t observe Adam and Eve’s reasoning firsthand within the Backyard, I’ve noticed our cat, Panda’s, conduct regarding a closed door. She might go into any room in our home besides the storage, but she would sit for hours in entrance of it, meowing on the door and pleading with us to open it for her. Not realizing how cats suppose, I’m questioning if Panda considered it as an exquisite, mysterious place to go. After all, as a cat, she didn’t possess our information and understanding of the hazards it held for a small kitty like herself, similar to sharp instruments, automobiles driving out and in, and escaping into the wild outdoor.
Listening to her sit there for hours crying to undergo the closed door, when she had each different door in the home open to her jogged my memory of myself at occasions. How usually, when the door closes on what we contemplate an amazing prospect in our lives, whether or not it’s a brand new home, relationship, job, or place, does it change into the first factor we select to consider, even fixating on it and spending all our time dwelling on it?
Closed Doorways Don’t Imply We Aren’t Liked
We closed the door to Panda as a result of we love her and wish to shield and preserve her protected. But, when God does the identical for us, it’s usually arduous for us to consider He loves us. Moderately, we tread by way of emotions of distraught, disappointment, heartache, and hopelessness at dropping a possibility. Typically, we even blame God or maintain Him answerable for withholding good from us.
However Psalm 84:11 describes how, “For the Lord God is a solar and defend; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good factor does He withhold from these whose stroll is innocent.”
So maybe, like Panda, at occasions we’re unknowingly asking God to open a door that would result in destruction and trigger extra ache than we are able to think about. So is it an absence of religion and belief in God to dwell on closed doorways and query His main in our lives? Like we want Panda would belief us and settle for the closed door for her personal good, God needs us to do the identical. As a substitute of letting remorse torment us with the “why nots” of dropping a possibility, we must always reasonably select to stroll away from closed doorways, trusting His knowledge within the scenario, realizing that He loves us and has higher plans for us.
In going through a closed door, we are able to select to show and stroll away, believing that if God had needed it for us, it could have opened. And if He didn’t need it opened, then it’s for our good.
God Understands the Significance of Opened and Closed Doorways
God understands, too, the significance of open and closed doorways. In John 10:9, Jesus tells us He’s the door, and whoever enters by way of Him will likely be saved. So the doorways we enter by way of can have everlasting penalties. As Jesus proclaims in Revelation 3:20, “Right here I’m! I stand on the door and knock. If anybody hears My voice and opens the door, I’ll are available in and eat with that individual, they usually with Me.
Let’s pray:
Pricey Father,
Thanks for the closed doorways in my life, as a result of I do know if they’d been in your plans, You’ll have opened them to me. Forgive me for not trusting closed doorways to You and for doubting Your love for me, even at occasions blaming You for my missed alternatives. As properly, assist me to forgive these I’ve believed closed these doorways, seeing they have been led by You of their decision-making, even when they believed it was their very own doing. Assist me to actually consider what Genesis 50:20 explains regarding different folks’s actions in direction of me. “You supposed to hurt me, however God supposed it for good to perform what’s now being completed, the saving of many lives.”
In Jesus’ title, Amen
Photograph credit score: ©GettyImages/Aliaksandra Ivanova / EyeEm
Lynette Kittle is married with 4 daughters. She enjoys writing about religion, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been revealed by Give attention to the Household, Choice, At present’s Christian Lady, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and extra. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent College and serves as affiliate producer for Soul Verify TV.
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