Which Door?

Recently, I've been hearing in pastoral conversations and reading on social media comments along the following lines:

"When God closes a door, He opens another"

"If God shuts a door, stop banging on it"

"Until God opens the next door for you, praise Him in the hallway"

These phrases are meant to offer reassurance and encouragement when life takes unexpected turns or when things don't turn out the way we plan.  I have even found myself using similar lines from time to time when responding to someones disappointment.  While they are well meaning, are they true?  Do they provide a correct biblical representation of God?  What do they say about the choices we and others make along the way?  How well do they position us to discover God's will?

The idea that God opens and closes doors suggests to me that God is someone who can lead us down pathways that are either the wrong destination or a dead end.  This could imply that God doesn't know what He is doing, thus denying His sovereignty.  Or, if God is indeed sovereign, it could infer that He is testing us or toying with us.  None of which align with a biblical image of God.

Consider this alternative view of God, as revealed in Scripture, not on social media.  It may seem less comforting according to our pop-theology, but a biblical theology is a far more solid foundation to pursue God's purpose for our lives.

God doesn't open or close doors, He is the door.

Jesus declared, "I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and will find pasture" (John 10:9).  What an interesting two sided statement.  The first part affirms what we know about Jesus, He is "the WAY" to God.  The second part references our response to "the WAY".  Jesus doesn't open multiple doors for us to choose from or for Him to change, but is "the DOOR" for us to choose whether or not to remain in Him (a point later expounded in John 15).  Combine this thought with the rest of the passage:  "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:14).  It is only when we enter through "the DOOR" and remain in "the DOOR" that we can truly come to know the Shepherd and recognise His voice from counterfeit voices outside "the DOOR" that will try and lure us through other doors.

I wonder if the confusion over other doors is more to with the amount of time we spend inside "the DOOR" listening to the voice of the Shepherd whose role is to guide, protect and provide for His sheep?  In this space it is easier to discern and decide which doors to open and close in our lives when we engage in the world outside of "the DOOR".  

Maybe it is not God who opens and closes doors.  Maybe it is through "the DOOR" that we are given divine wisdom to discern the will of God in order to open and close the right doors ourselves as we pursue His purpose for our lives.  Just a thought.

Our Plan, God's Plan

Life is a culmination of experiences that derive from our calling, culture and choices. We are each created for a divine purpose, born into a particular cultural setting and given the freedom to make a series of choices along the way that either cooperates with or frustrates God's plan for our lives.  From the creation story through to the birth of the early church Scripture reveals how God's plan constantly collides with human will, causing unintended speed humps and detours along the journey towards God's intended purpose for His people. 

God's plan for Adam and Eve was to live in the perfection of the Garden of Eden, but they chose the tree of knowledge over the tree of life resulting in their banishment from the garden and the curse of death.

God's plan for the Hebrews was to deliver them from slavery in Egypt so they could take possession of the promised land, but their disobedience left them wandering in the desert for 40 years before the next generation received their inheritance.

God's plan for Israel was to love the Lord God with all their heart and soul and to be obedient to His commands, but they rejected God as their King and asked for a king like the other nations to rule over them, ultimately leading to the division and exile of a nation.

God's plan for the early church was to go into all the world to make disciples of all nations, but they remained in Jerusalem provoking an outbreak of persecution that scattered the disciples throughout Judea and Samaria to advance the Great Commission.

It seems to me that God's plan for our lives is far more direct than we give Him credit for and any deviation along the way is more often than not to do with human attitudes and actions than divine arrangement. Whether that be the impact of our own choices or the choices of others or the influence of our culture, our divine calling is diverted when our humanity obstructs God's intended pathway.

I was therefore interested in a diagram I saw recently on Facebook that suggests our plan is a direct pathway to our chosen destination, whereas God's plan takes us over and through many obstacles to reach His desired destination. The second part of the diagram (b), supposedly representing "God's Plan," may indeed be more closely aligned to the reality of life than the first part (a), but I'm not convinced that it reflects God's intended REALITY or plan.  To do so would suggest that it is God's plan for us to take the long and hard way to accomplish His will on earth and infers that He intentionally puts obstacles in our way or makes the way unclear!

In contrast, the psalmist prayed, "Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies - make straight your way before me" (Psalm 5:8).  The wisdom literature exhorted, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:6).  The prophet declared, "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God" (Isaiah 40:3).  The gospel records Jesus saying, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No-one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). The apostle writes, "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.  For if you do these things, you will never fall" (2 Peter 1:10).

It seems inconsistent with God's plan for humankind for Him to make the pathway so difficult and uncertain.  However, it is entirely consistent with God's pattern for Him to use the difficulties and uncertainty, caused by the fallenness of humanity, to demonstrate His grace and mercy.  Despite ourselves God's plan cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2, Psalm 33:10-11, Proverbs 19:21) and "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  Scripture also tells us that these speed humps and detours in life can be used by God as a laboratory for learning and growth (2 Corinthians 4:7-12, 2 Peter 1:3-8).  

So, when we experience reality that looks a little like the pathway in diagram (b), let us be careful not to accredit to God something that is more likely to be the result of our choices and/or circumstances.  Let us instead acknowledge God's presence within that reality and realign ourselves with His intended REALITY (Romans 12:1-2).  Let us pursue the plan God has chosen for us (Philippians 3:13-14) and remember that it is "the thief [who] comes only to steal and kill and destroy" but Jesus has "come that [we] may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Can He? Will He?

One of the perplexing struggles I have had with prayer throughout my faith journey is not whether or not God can, but whether or not God will.  I believe firmly in a God "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:30).  This belief in the power of God has always been without question for me.  What I have questioned at times is whether God will?  The paradox is that this doubt about whether God will has the potential to cripple our belief that God can, thus disempowering the way we pray.

We should most certainly pray according to God's providential will, that is His ultimate will for humankind as revealed in Scripture.  This acts as a guide to whether or not our prayers are aligned with God's established character and purpose.  However, I am coming to think that I should not allow my uncertainty about God's personal will for specific situations to diminish my prayers to a powerful God.  In other words, don't let the fact of whether God will stop you from having the faith to pray passionately to a God who can!  

In his book, The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson writes, "With God, it's never an issue of 'Can he?'  It's only a question of 'Will He?' And while you don't always know if He will, you know He can.  And because you know He can, you can pray with holy confidence."  This is a liberating and powerful position to pray from, as my faith is strengthened by what I know (Can He?) and stimulated by what I don't know (Will He?), generating a faith-fueled exchange between the human and divine.

Pray passionately to a God who can and wait expectantly to see if God will.