Many Christians use the idea of open doors and closed doors to evaluate what we should do and where we should go. We assume that if a door is open we should walk through it. And if a door is closed we should give up on it.
But it’s a little more complicated than that. There are some doors God himself opens that he doesn’t want us to walk through, and there are some doors God closes that he doesn’t want us to give up on.
How do we know the difference? Through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what Paul experienced throughout his ministry. Like in Acts 16, when Paul and his companions “went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6).
Why would God forbid anyone from preaching the gospel? Because he opens and closes doors for reasons we might not understand until much later. Did you ever have a boyfriend or girlfriend and you thought, “This is the one!” Until God closed the door. And later you said, “Thank you Jesus!” How many jobs have you applied for and thought, “This one is perfect for me!” Until God closed the door.
It doesn’t mean you stop trying to go through doors! When the door to Asia was closed, Paul tried another door: “And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” (Acts 16:7). It happened again!
But here’s what Paul’s showing us: you won’t know a door is closed until you try to open it. Many times we assume a door is closed before we even try to open it. How many jobs have you not applied for because you assumed you would be rejected? How many things have you not tried because you assumed you would fail?
Sometimes we end up doing nothing because we assume that doors are closed. But Paul won’t stop trying to open doors. After God closes the door to Bithynia, it says, “Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.” (Acts 16:8). Finally! An open door!
Because sometimes, you don’t find an open door until after you’ve tried a lot of closed doors. Paul kept knocking on doors because he knew something else: when God closes a door, it might be temporary. God closed the door to Asia, but 3 chapters later in Acts, God opens the door wide for Paul in Asia. It’s just that he didn’t want him to go there quite yet.
Instead, he flings open the door to ministry in Europe: “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:9-10).
In order to fulfill this calling, Paul will need to travel all the way from the Middle East to Europe, a 300-mile journey by land, or 200 miles by sea. This is a huge commitment, but Paul sees it as a huge open door.
Because God’s open doors aren’t usually the most comfortable option. Those are the doors we usually look for. We look for the option that feels right. The one that’s most comfortable. The one that gives us the most flexibility. The most me-time.
But nothing significant ever happens on a lounge chair by a pool. If you look back at the most significant moments of your life, they never happened at a spa. It was when you were doing something hard. It’s when you had to fight for something.
It’s when you had to pound on closed door after closed door, until you finally found an open door.
That’s what Paul had to do, even after he arrived in Macedonia. After preaching the gospel he’s arrested and thrown into prison. But then a great earthquake shakes the prison doors open. It’s literally a wide open door to escape persecution, but Paul doesn’t go through it. He stays in prison.
Because he realizes that an open opportunity isn’t always an open door. He knows that if they run out of this prison, they’ll have to keep running, far away from Macedonia.And when the government leaders find out these Christian leaders escaped from prison, then they’ll go after the brand-new Christians who are still in town. So Paul decides to stay.
And look at what happens: “The jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:29-30). This triple-locked door has just been flung wide open! Prison guards are begging Paul to share the gospel.
So Paul stays in the dirty, putrid prison and preaches Jesus! Because difficulty and suffering aren’t the same as closed doors, like we often think. If Jesus thought the path that led to suffering was a closed door, he never would have gone to the cross for us. He never would have died for our sins.
And if we’re followers of Jesus, why would we expect anything different?