The concept of opening and closing of doors is both a secular and a Christian concept albeit with different meanings.
In 207 B.C. in the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu ordered the Chu army to cross the river to attack the Qin army that numbered about 300,000. The Chu army numbered less than 50,000. After crossing the river Xiang ordered his men to burn their boats and destroy all but three days rations. To make up for their weakness Xiang utilized a bit of motivation. He closed one of the two doors. The Chu army did succeed in conquering the Qin army. They had no choice if they wanted to survive.
Today we are often powerless because of a belief that we should keep options open. If we fail we like to know that we can go back to where we were. Even Christians will do this.
The natural man wants to have it all. In being his own God he actually does close doors of his own volition. Time spent at work means time away from spouse and children. Moving to a new location means leaving another. Every decision about material things means closing a door. In the material world there are unlimited desires and limited resoures. This is true of both time and money.
As Christians we view that Jesus is our salesman, our guide, our mentor, and our counselor. At least we should view it that way. While He can close doors we must be careful not to commit the sin of "tempting" God by asking God to close a door if that choice is not His will. I often cringe when I hear "God closed a door" used so casually. We view a closed door as a loss and so we want to place blame somewhere.
More properly we should look for God to open doors. When we recognize this to happen we can close a door and not feel a loss.
I know that I am not listing scriptures right now. There are not direct scriptures to establish a door close door open doctrine. There are plenty that allude to it. And there are plenty of examples, with Paul and Jonah to name two, where there were choices and where God made His intentions clear. Perhaps door close door open becomes a way for us mortals to understand seeking God's will. At the same time it can become a source of much sadness and regret. God may open a door for us that leads us where we go backwards materially. Trials and persecutions may come. Or we may simply wish we were back where we were before. "God did I make a mistake in going through this door?"
We need to grow as Christians. This will often mean we give up something that we once had. We may no longer need the financial security that we thought was so important.
This is not intended as a substitute for scripture but I remember that it was Janis Joplin who once said "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." She had a point there.
There is an old story about the man who figured out how he could take his wealth with him. After he was checked in at the gates of Heaven with his bags of gold and moved on in one of the angels said to another "Why is he carrying all that paving material?" We laugh but it is so true.
As we get older we can look back on things we dragged around at a younger age and can have regrets that we spent so much time and money on something that was of no real value.
Maybe you can tell me your thoughts.
David Sneed
In 207 B.C. in the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu ordered the Chu army to cross the river to attack the Qin army that numbered about 300,000. The Chu army numbered less than 50,000. After crossing the river Xiang ordered his men to burn their boats and destroy all but three days rations. To make up for their weakness Xiang utilized a bit of motivation. He closed one of the two doors. The Chu army did succeed in conquering the Qin army. They had no choice if they wanted to survive.
Today we are often powerless because of a belief that we should keep options open. If we fail we like to know that we can go back to where we were. Even Christians will do this.
The natural man wants to have it all. In being his own God he actually does close doors of his own volition. Time spent at work means time away from spouse and children. Moving to a new location means leaving another. Every decision about material things means closing a door. In the material world there are unlimited desires and limited resoures. This is true of both time and money.
As Christians we view that Jesus is our salesman, our guide, our mentor, and our counselor. At least we should view it that way. While He can close doors we must be careful not to commit the sin of "tempting" God by asking God to close a door if that choice is not His will. I often cringe when I hear "God closed a door" used so casually. We view a closed door as a loss and so we want to place blame somewhere.
More properly we should look for God to open doors. When we recognize this to happen we can close a door and not feel a loss.
I know that I am not listing scriptures right now. There are not direct scriptures to establish a door close door open doctrine. There are plenty that allude to it. And there are plenty of examples, with Paul and Jonah to name two, where there were choices and where God made His intentions clear. Perhaps door close door open becomes a way for us mortals to understand seeking God's will. At the same time it can become a source of much sadness and regret. God may open a door for us that leads us where we go backwards materially. Trials and persecutions may come. Or we may simply wish we were back where we were before. "God did I make a mistake in going through this door?"
We need to grow as Christians. This will often mean we give up something that we once had. We may no longer need the financial security that we thought was so important.
This is not intended as a substitute for scripture but I remember that it was Janis Joplin who once said "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." She had a point there.
There is an old story about the man who figured out how he could take his wealth with him. After he was checked in at the gates of Heaven with his bags of gold and moved on in one of the angels said to another "Why is he carrying all that paving material?" We laugh but it is so true.
As we get older we can look back on things we dragged around at a younger age and can have regrets that we spent so much time and money on something that was of no real value.
Maybe you can tell me your thoughts.
David Sneed
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