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How do you know when an open door is the right door? Sometimes we have to wait so long and opportunities are so hard to come by that when we have an opportunity we feel we should seize it. In this episode we are discussing doors, when to walk through them and when to walk past them.
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How Do You Know When an Open Door is the Right Door?
How do you know when an open door is the right door? Sometimes we have to wait so long and opportunities are so hard to come by that when we have an opportunity we feel we should seize it. In this episode we are discussing doors, when to walk through them and when to walk past them.
We were prompted to this discussion when reading 2 Corinthians chapter 2 when the Apostle Paul says, “even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest…”
There are no hard, fast, concrete answers to this question, but on this great adventure you are going to come across doors that are open, and you will be intrigued by them, and some of them you are to walk through, some of them you are to walk past. How do you know.
’When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, (13) my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. ‘
2 Corinthians 2.12-17 ESV
Paul had passed through Troas once before (Acts 16) and had a vision of a man in Macedonia (Europe) calling out to him. He proceeded on into Macedonia.
On his third missionary journey, after leaving Ephesus, he once again traveled through Troas. This time, though he found an open door for ministry in Troas, he continued on to Macedonia again. After visiting the churches in Macedonia and Achaia (Greece) he and his traveling party went back through Troas where they stayed for 7 days.
This is the second letter to the Corinthians. Titus had gone to Corinth and Paul was anxious to see him and hear of what was happening in Corinth. Titus was supposed to meet him in Troas, but he was not there. Paul was unsettled in his spirit because Titus was not there, and though a door of ministry was open to him, he traveled on to Macedonia in the hopes of finding Titus. Paul was reunited with Titus in Macedonia (2 Corinthians 7.6). Paul was filled with great joy because Titus had brought a good report from the church at Corinth.
Paul came to Troas this second time with the intention of preaching the gospel.
A door for ministry was open to Paul “in the Lord.”
Paul did not seize the opportunity, left, and went to Macedonia.
Just because a door is open doesn’t mean it’s the right place, or the right time, or the right thing.
The convergence/alignment of opportunity, focus, and purpose.
- Is it the right place… opportunity
- Is it the right time… focus
- Is it the right thing… purpose
Here are some things to consider when encountering a door.
First, is the door open or closed? (Opportunity)
Sometimes the right door is closed, but most of the time the right door is opened.
Just because a door is closed does not mean it is the wrong opportunity, but if the opportunity is not afforded it is often out of your control. I’ve known doors to stick a little and have to be leaned into to get them to open. So, I don’t want to say that a door that is not apparently open is definitively a door that should be left alone, because sometimes you’ve got to take action and follow the Holy Spirit in how aggressive you should be… but…
It is my experience that most of the time, the right opportunities present themselves in some way and it is up to us to obediently seize the opportunity.
We have to count on God to open closed doors, if those doors are actually the right doors.
Isaiah makes a prophetic reference to the Messiah when he says (22.22), “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David, He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.”
In Revelation (3.7-8), in the message to the Church in Philadelphia, Jesus reveals himself as the keeper of the key when he says, “…The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you and open door, which no one is able to shut….”
Jesus is revealed as the one who sets ordained opportunities before His Church.
It is a matter of trusting God to wait for the open doors.
Second, are we seizing the open doors because it is convenient? (Focus)
In the sovereignty of God I spent three years as the executive pastor of a large church. I have often wondered if that was really God’s plan. I’m so very thankful for the experience and for the relationships gained. I’ve settled on the belief that it was God’s path for my life because of the practical things I learned and experienced that took me to the next level in the ministry to which we are called. But I’m really not so sure that I wasn’t tired of waiting, knowing I was directed to transition, and walked through an open door because it presented itself at the right time.
It would have been convenient for Paul to have stayed in Troas, but he could not focus. There was something chewing on him.
Where was Titus?
Paul was so concerned over the situation in Corinth that he simply could not focus on the opportunity placed before him at Troas.
Why?
It was a matter of passionate focus. Paul was simply more concerned about Corinth, the troubles brewing at Corinth, and his son in the faith, Titus, who was supposed to be bringing word to him.
We have to stay focused on the mission we’ve been given and sometimes the mission expresses itself through our passionate focus.
It is a matter of timing and the focus we are (able) to bring to things in that particular season.
After his rendezvous with Titus and his second visit to Corinth, Paul and his team came back through Troas, spent seven days there, and raised Eutychus from the dead (after putting him to sleep with his preaching sufficiently to fall out the window).
A door was open in Troas, a church was established, but for Paul, his second time through was just not the time for him.
Third, are we seizing the open door because we are afraid there won’t be another one? (Purpose)
In 1992 I was nominated to be a candidate for the position of youth director for our Indiana Fellowship. For a young man of 32, this was an honor and the opportunity for broader ministry. I wanted to seize the opportunity, and I was well known enough that there was a very good chance I may have gotten the vote… but the problem was, I was pastoring a church and I did not feel it time to leave.
I withdrew my name and went back home feeling that I had passed up the only opportunity I may ever get for a ministry with a reach beyond the local level.
Many other doors have opened and I have been very glad I did not walk through that open door, because it was absolutely not the right door for me.
You cannot be so shallow in your trust that you will walk through an open door just because you are afraid you will not get another opportunity. You have to evaluate the open door in light of God’s purposes for you.
Look how 2nd Corinthians chapter two progresses.
Verse 14 says, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
The “triumphal procession” refers to the practice of the Romans in returning from battle. They took captive citizens from the land they conquered, and as they marched back into Rome, the paraded the captives in triumph.
Christ is leading the parade, and we are the captives he is parading. He leads us, we are the captives. We are the willing and joyful captives.
“… and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” This is the purpose.
It’s not about you… it is about the aroma of what Christ has done for the world wafting out from us, as the redeemed.
The older I get the more I realize that the GREAT ADVENTURE is not about my fulfillment and happiness, it is about discovering the JOY of the triumphal procession.
Verse 16 and 17 asks a question and then gives an answer.
The question: “Who is sufficient for these things?” Who is enough?
Deciding if an open door is THE open door for us is not about deciding if we are capable, whether or not the door is strategic, whether or not the door will take us to a place of prominence… there is only ONE QUESTION: Is this the door that God has set before us.
I had a friend named Dan. Dan went to be with Jesus 2 years ago. Sometimes, in fact, just the other day I wished I could talk to Dan to get some perspective and insight from him as I often did when he was still on Earth. But I don’t really need to because Dan always had pretty much the same answer to all of my musings. At some point in the conversation Dan would put a cap on everything with this one statement, “David, it really doesn’t matter what we want to do, the only thing that matters is what God wants to do.”
- How do I know if an open door is the right door?
- How do I know if it is the right time?
- How do I know if it’s the right thing?
In verse 17 Paul declares he is not a peddler of God’s word.
- Paul is not a deal maker.
- Paul is not looking for a great opportunity.
- Paul is absolutely not afraid to pass on something that looks good.
- Paul is focused on TRANSFORMATION and not on TRANSACTION.
He goes on to say (verse 17)…
- “… but as men of sincerity
- … as commissioned by God
- … in the sight of God
- … we speak in Christ.”
Finally…
What do you do when you encounter a door?
Consider…
- Is it the right place… opportunity
- Is it the right time… focus
- Is it the right thing… purpose
We are in triumphal procession with our aim to be the aroma of Christ.
