Doors
- Karen Miller
- Aug 15
- 4 min read
In the previous post on wandering in the wilderness (see Wilderness Journeys), I began contemplating the prospect of entering the promised land. The Spirit kept pointing out threshold places, doors, watchers on the wall. At the same time, it seemed that I and many others around me were facing battles at every turn. It occurred to me that as the Israelites stood at the doorway or threshold of the Promised land, they also encountered opposition. God clearly showed the way and instructed them to take the land, but that didn’t mean that the enemy would hand it over without a fight. Perhaps we (the body of Christ) are also in a threshold season. After my mother shared some coordinating revelations with me, I asked her to write them down to share with you as well. These are her insights. Thanks, Mama!
“When you find opposition at the door, look for windows of opportunity.” Rabbi Jason Sobel
An interest in doors peaked after hearing a sermon taken from 2 Kings 4. The Elisha stories of a certain widow woman and a great Shunamite woman focused on doors that these women opened, closed, and stood in. Their doors of disappointment and hope hung on the same hinges.
These doors, opened or shut, also lead us to miracles. The widow woman, according to Elisha's command, used what she had (nothing but a jar of oil), borrowed vessels (not a few), and behind shut doors she poured until all the vessels were full. Then the oil stopped. She sold the oil, paid her debt, spared her sons from becoming her creditor’s slaves, and had enough money to live on. Miracles. Her obedience multiplied.
The childless Shunamite woman stood in the door of the chamber that she had built for Elisha and he prophesied, “At this season next year, you shall embrace a son.” The woman conceived and bore a son about that time the following spring. Years later, the grown child died. The woman laid him on the bed, shut the door of the chamber and believed and declared, “All is well!” She went for Elisha. He came, opened that door, shut it behind him and prayed. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes to a new life. She chose to shut the door on disappointment, open the door to faith, and found a miracle on the other side.
In the following days, I couldn’t help but notice “doors “ in the scriptures that I read:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20 NKJV) God puts many doors before us. First of all, when He knocks – OPEN THE DOOR!
Where He is allowed entrance, we also enter in. “I AM the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” ( John 10:9 ) Notice the freedom - and the pasture! We need the faith building sustenance and peace of His pasture – His Word. GRAZE ON IT!
“Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27) The door of Faith is open to all. ALL ARE WELCOME.
"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Colossians 4:2-6)
God’s word equips us. His Holy Spirit leads us and anoints us for service and productivity. Pray for the ability to live out God’s Word as His example. Pray for the ability to communicate clearly the mystery of His LOVE and GRACE. BELIEVE FOR IT! PROCLAIM IT!
God opens doors of opportunity and ministry, but you may experience opposition. “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (1 Corinthians 16:9) In 2 Corinthians 2:12-13, Paul says that a door was opened unto him but there he found no rest. He left and went elsewhere. His conclusion and his rest was - “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)
Doors of opportunity and ministry require sincere faith and endurance. We may have to brush the dust off our feet and move to the next door. But in all doors, we STAND on His promises. Remember them; rehearse them. “Watch (ye), STAND fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13 KJV)
Whether we open or shut doors, we do it in obedience to the Spirit and with faith. Like Elisha, the widow woman, and the Shunamite woman, we obey in the midst of opposition. And like Paul – I pray that as we eternally open the doors of our hearts to our Savior, we will go in and find pasture, feast there, and then go out to communicate the mystery of the gospel of Christ. As we Proclaim the Way the Truth and the Life, I pray we will also stand firmly on His promises and tenaciously embrace His peace.
