My granddaughter got her foot stuck in the railings whilst playing with them. It wasn’t painful, but as a child she got desperate to have her foot freed. Her parents jointly tried to pull her leg out. They decided that the best way would be to take off her shoe so her foot could smoothly slide out. But she screamed at the top of her voice, protesting the removal of her shoe. As a baby, she didn’t understand that removing her shoe was to make it easy for her foot to slide out of the railings.
This event mirrors the way we are with some decisions God makes for us. If God wants to removes our ‘shoe’ in order to save our ‘foot’, we scream and mourn the shoe, not realizing the miracle of getting out of the situation that was trying to trap us. Sometimes God won’t save you and save your shoe as well; you might have to let go of your shoe to save your foot.
I am reminded of the story of Lot in Genesis 19. When God opened the door of opportunity for him and his family to flee the destruction that was about to befall Sodom and Gomorrah, they lingered in the city despite warnings from the angels such that the angels had to take them by the hand till they got out of the city (verse 16). And when the angels advised them to flee to the mountain, Lot asked to flee to a nearby city called “Zoar” meaning ‘small’. It is obvious Lot and his family had a hard time letting go of Sodom and Gomorrah, and embracing the vastness of the ‘mountain’. They let go of the many opportunities and privileges the mountain had to offer by choosing ‘small’, forgetting that God knows and wants what is best for us always (Jeremiah 29:11). If He asks you to go to the mountain, it is in your best interest to walk through the door He has opened, trusting His reasons for shutting the other door.
Unfortunately, sometimes we struggle with God because we don’t like the doors He is holding open; so we stall, grumbling and refusing to walk through them. We think we know what is best for us and standby the shut or unopened door, eyeing it and hoping God will change His mind and lead us where we want.
I have had to counsel a lot of people who ask me to endorse their decision to marry someone they know God is telling them not to marry. If God is shutting the door on a relationship, trust that he will open another door. As Isaiah 34:16 says “…none will lack their mate.” Though the journey to obedience may be hard, the reward is unending; but the consequence of pursuing one’s own way is mostly disastrous.
You see, on the way to Zoar (the forced location), Lot’s wife disobeyed the instruction of the angels of the Lord. Shelooked back and turned into a pillar of salt. When you walk towards the open door, let go of the closed ones. Don’t look back. (Luke 9:62)
Today, I want you to make a decision to go through the door God is holding open, even if the way seems unfamiliar and narrow, and the path looks different from what you expect or are used to.
My prayer is that God will give you the strength to walk away from the doors He has shut and give you the confidence to walk through those He has opened for you in Jesus name.

Welcome to July, your month of Open Doors!

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things say He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ‘I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.”
-Revelation 3:7-9 NKJV