Are “open doors” or “closed doors” indicators of God’s will?

Hey everyone. We’ve been spending the last few weeks talking about God’s will for our lives. And how do we determine what God’s will is? We all want to know. No matter how old you are or whatever your background is, we all are curious to know what is God’s plan for my life?

What is my purpose here in the world? And there are various ways that believers over time have tried to determine what God’s will is for our lives. Sometimes if we don’t hear from God, we’ll get desperate. And I remember when I was younger, I occasionally would open up the Bible and just whatever I would open to, I would assume that that was maybe God’s way of speaking to me.

Maybe you’ve done something like that.

Is that a reliable way of, of determining God’s will for you? Probably not. Yes, God is sovereign and he is able to use all sorts of means to get us to understand how he is trying to speak to us. But he is far more likely to speak to us as we continue in God’s Word, and then he speaks to his revealed will to us through that.

But there is another method that Christians have tried over time, and this is really the focus of our question today.

Is this idea of open doors or closed doors? Are open doors or closed doors reliable indicators of God’s will for our lives? And when Christians typically speak of open doors, we just are simply usually meaning something like an opportunity. Has God given me this great opportunity? If so, then that must be an open door.

That must be an indication that that is what God wants me to do. On the other side, sometimes when we encounter hardship or difficulty, we interpret that as being a closed door. Perhaps that is not what God wants me to be doing right now. So this idea of open doors, closed doors, what does it tell us about God’s will?

Is this a biblical way of determining God’s plans for us?

And I’ll start by saying that the idea of open doors is found in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul in particular uses it in some of his writings, where you can read about it in the Book of Acts, where it talks about how God has provided an open door for ministry, or God has provided some fruitfulness in ministry in a particular area.

And Paul attributes that to God providing this open door. So in other words, the idea of open door thinking is it is okay to think about open doors if it involves doing something that you already know good or necessary for you to do something that is already part of God’s revealed will. Hey, should I share my faith with my co worker, with my family member.

That seems like something that absolutely God would want you to do. Should I use my resources to help the poor or somebody who is in need? Yes, those are open doors already that confirm some something that God already wants us to be doing. Conversely, we often will look at a closed door and say, well then that must be God’s will.

But there’s some foolishness that we often apply to closed doors.

For instance, a lot of times we don’t act on something that we should already know is good and necessary for us to do. But because it is difficult, we’ll often say, well then that must be a closed door. For instance, you try to share your faith with someone and there’s some resistance there. Well then that must not be an open door.

God must not want me to share my faith.

No, that is not a reliable indicator that that is God’s will for you. God wants you to share your faith and to continue to seek and to pray for what he wants you to do. It is also not wise to use this idea of an open door or closed door if it involves endorsing some bad idea that you’ve already determined to do.

There are many bad decisions that people have made. For instance, being involved extramaritally in another relationship just because there’s an open door, seemingly that is before you.

It is not a good idea to do things that again go against what God’s will is, that contradict his character and his provision and plan for us just because there is an opportunity to do something. Take the story of Jonah. Just because Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh even though God called him there.

But God seemingly providentially, who knows, opened up a door for a ship that just so happened to be going to Tarshish. Well then that must be God’s will, because that was an open door.

Again, we know that that is not a reliable indicator of God’s will. Here’s the bottom line that we Again, if there’s an opportunity to do something that we already know is good or necessary, whether there’s hardship or not, that is an open door. It is something that God wants us to do. But neither should we just find license in doing something just because there’s hardship.

We talked about this in my message this last Sunday in my sermon about the presence of hardship and difficulties is something that Jesus talked about that we should expect when we are following Him.

So don’t encounter difficulty and just say, well then that must not be what God wants me to do. And we should not necessarily assume that that goes against God’s will. So Psalm 37 talks about it like this in verses 23 and 24 of Psalm 37. The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.

Though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Friends, what this is encouraging us to do is to be faithful and obedient, to walk through whatever opportunities that God puts before us providentially. And you don’t have to wait for that opportunity to discern whether or not that’s an open door or closed, or if it involves a doing what is good or necessary.

But we should be willing to be obedient whether there is a door of blessing or a door that might lead to trial or hardship. The bottom line is to walk with our good shepherd, who speaks and he leads and there will be hardship at times. That doesn’t necessarily mean that God is not in it or that it’s a closed door.

We should trust him with all of our heart and don’t lean only on our own understanding. We should always take whatever urgings and promptings that the Holy Spirit gives us and weigh it against what God’s revealed will is already in Scripture. We need to be in God’s Word. We need to abide in His Word.

We need to trust him and walk with Him.

Stay on the path. If you get off the path, get back onto the path so that God can speak to you through His Word. And perhaps an open door or a closed door might come along the way. But those can be confirmed by God’s Word as well as through wise godly friends who know you well and through prayer of seeking God.

What is your desire for me?

As we walk with him, he will make our path straight. He will direct us well. I hope that this has been helpful to you to think about open doors or closed doors that might be before you. Let’s walk through whatever opportunities that God puts before us to do what is good and what is necessary and what glorifies Him.

Thanks for joining us today.