What to do When You’re Waiting for an Open Door

Inside: When we’re trying to determine what’s next, opportunities for rejection abound. But let’s set our fears aside and keep knocking, trusting that God is ultimately the One who opens or closes every door. ~

When we visited Spain last November, we practically walked our legs off.

We didn’t travel everywhere on foot, of course, but many of the cathedrals, shops and restaurants on our sight-seeing itinerary were a 15- or 20-minute walk away. As we traversed cobblestone streets with tall buildings on either side—trying to keep up with our tour guide/daughter Lilly and avoid running into other pedestrians on the narrow, often uneven sidewalks—I started noticing the doors along the way.

So Many Beautiful Doors

Urban residential areas in Seville, Spain, are nothing like suburban neighborhoods in the Midwest, where houses are separated by yards and have sidewalks leading up to their front entrances.

Where we were, the apartment buildings open right onto the street. You pass a door every couple of yards or so, and every single one is different.

At some point, I started taking pictures of these doors. They were interesting to look at, for sure. But I couldn’t help but think I was drawn to them for a deeper reason.

Delayed Reaction?

By the time we got home, I was sick with Covid for the second time in nine months. As seems to be my custom with this sickness, my words went away for a while. When I looked ahead, I saw … well, nothing.

I wondered if this was some kind of delayed reaction to becoming an empty nester. We’d had a busy fall, after all. Maybe the full force of this transition was finally hitting me.

I gradually felt better. My words slowly came back. And I started thinking about the doors again.

Never Say Never

References to doors started catching my eye, including this statement by novelist Beth K. Vogt: “God’s best is often found behind the doors marked ‘never.’”

“Over and over again I sealed off certain opportunities,” she writes on her website. “I would never marry a doctor or anyone in the military. I would never have children. I would never write fiction. And don’t you know God stripped off the duct tape and walked me through each of those NEVER doors?”

That’s a wise perspective, isn’t it? It certainly intensifies the meaning of the phrase never say never.

Doors Marked “Impossible”

At this point in my life, however, Vogt’s words are speaking to me in a different way. I usually don’t think about never in terms of what I don’t ever want to do. Rather, my thoughts go toward what I might consider hopeless or impossible.

Could it be, then, that God’s best also might be found behind a door I have labeled “it will never happen”?

The Bible talks about how God opens “doors of opportunity,” and that when He puts an open door in front of us, no one can shut it. (See 2 Corinthians 2:12 and Revelation 3:8.) While these verses specifically refer to the spread of the gospel, I think the principle also applies to other callings and assignments.

What Next?

Unfortunately, it’s often hard to distinguish between what we think God wants us to do and what He is actually going to bring to fruition in our lives. Even when we have peace about the overall assignment, it’s easy to feel inadequate and unsure of what to do next.

We can’t just sit around and wait for God’s chosen (and perhaps humanly impossible) doors to pop open right in front of us, can we? But how do we know which doors to knock on, in hopes that some of them might open to the help or opportunities we are seeking?

And how do we keep going when the doors we do try remain tightly closed?

Knocking Season

As one who is currently in a season of knocking, I don’t have any definitive answers, but I do have a few thoughts—for you and for me.

When knocking on a lot of doors—in a job search, seeking help of some kind, etc.—the possibilities for rejection are plentiful. Whether you get a no in writing or hear nothing at all, try not to take it personally. Either result is a good answer from our good God: That’s not the one, keep knocking.

Don’t be intimidated by the size of a door or the influence of whoever lives behind it. If God’s best for you is behind a certain door, your message will get through to them and the door will open.

Be thankful for people who open doors to or for you, no matter how small the opening. And do the same for others when the opportunity arises.

Pray First

Don’t knock without praying first. For the door to open, sure, but more importantly, that God’s will would be done.

Sometimes it seems like there are doors everywhere—like when my family was in Spain, passing one every few feet. Other times, you may feel like you’re out in the wilderness, driving miles between houses to find another place to knock.

Not every door that opens will be God’s best for you. How to know? Seek counsel. Make sure you’re not shying away out of fear. Ask Him to slam the door shut if you’re not supposed to go through.

Mistakes Happen

But what if you go through an open door, feeling sure that God is the one who opened it, only to discover you’ve made a terrible mistake? I have two thoughts about this. First, what looks like a mistake from our vantage point—for a variety of valid reasons—may be exactly where we need to be to fulfill God’s purposes, for us or for someone else.

Also, whether you are in the right place or you did, indeed, choose the wrong door, God will not abandon you. The way out might be long and hard. But He has promised to be with you every step of the way, and He will not break that promise.

Finally, if the path ahead is foggy and there are no doors in sight, go about the business of living and loving, taking care of the immediate and important needs right in front of you. As author Emily Freeman puts it, “Do the next right thing in love.”

Friends, it’s so easy to get fixated on a specific door being the right one (ask me how I know). But let’s all hold our expectations loosely even as we continue to knock. God’s best will be revealed in ways we might not expect or imagine right now.

He will open the right door when the time is right, and not a moment sooner.

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What helps you during a season of knocking on doors? And which of the Spanish doors pictured grabs your attention the most? Please share in the comments.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Sweet Tea & Friends, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.