WE MUST WALK THROUGH THE DOOR
The apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the believers living in Corinth—
“Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord,”
(The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 2: 12 NASB)
It is a fact—Our day-to-day walk, as we go through life, opens doors of opportunity.
- We who believe must pray for such opportunities. &
- We who are Christians must pray for courage & boldness to walk through these doors.
Today, I am compelled to share a story with you. On the 9th of May, I was blessed to have a back surgery, one that fused a section of my back (my lower lumbar). In the recovery process, I have downloaded a Walking App, one that tracks my steps, my miles, my calories, and my duration of time that I walk each day. As I click on the App & walk my steps, the App draws three hearts: the outer green colored heart is drawn as I walk the required steps; the next inner blue colored heart is drawn as I walk the required number of minutes; & the center pink colored heart is drawn as I exert the required number of calories—as I walk. Day-after-day, I have put on my bright yellow tennis shoes and then clicked on this App. Faithfully, the App has calculated my steps, minutes, and calories, but here’s the catch, I must first place my feet in appropriate walking shoes & I must put on my back brace & then I must step through my house door, step off the porch & walk.
In God’s Word, we read how Paul faced so many oppositions in his missionary journeys, times when Satan stifled the spread of the Gospel, and then we read:
“Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord,”
(The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 2: 12 NASB)
When the Holy Spirit led Paul to leave one location and go to Troas for the purpose of speaking “the gospel of Christ,” it was necessary that Paul walk through the door that was opened for him to step.
Earlier this week, I tied my tennis shoes, stood up to put on my back brace, clicked on my Walking App, stepped off my front porch, went down my gravel driveway and walked to the end of my country road. However, when I came to the end of my road, rather than making a U-Turn and retracing my steps, I turned left onto the ‘larger,’ more widely traveled country road. The miracle of this Walking App is that it tracks my location, knowing when I traverse a new terrain. So, I turned left, walking onto a road that would provide me more hills and a new territory to enjoy. The morning was beautiful, the temperature was perfect for walking, and I found myself praying as I walked.
Then I noticed a car coming my way, so naturally, I crept closer to the side of the roadway, hoping they would see me (or at least my bright shoes). Thankfully, they did see me, waving as they passed. What I noticed next, laying on the roadway BECAME AN OPEN DOOR THAT I NEEDED TO WALK THROUGH FOR THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL.
Let me explain.
“for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
(The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 16: 9 NASB)
The apostle Paul reminds believers that we are often led to Gospel encounters, but we must walk through the ‘wide door’ the LORD provides if we are to share Jesus. Now, it was so easy to just walk that morning because as I said, the morning was perfect for doing just that—walking. Then the car came toward me, and as the driver passed by, I noticed a large white envelope lift off the roadway and flutter back to the blacktop.
Therein led to my dilemma—the “many adversaries”—
- I am not supposed to twist, bend, or lift anything more than five-ten pounds, and picking up that large white envelope required that I bend.
- I am walking with such a small stride right now, and I just knew that if I went over to pick up that envelope, there was very good chance another vehicle could run over me before I made it safely back to the other side of the road.
- “I don’t need to pick up trash while I am walking” was the thought racing through my mind.
TRULY “there are many adversaries” when the Holy Spirit leads us through A WIDE-OPEN DOOR.
Nevertheless, I slowly walked over to that envelope laying on the road, bent (or squatted down) to pick up the envelope, and suddenly realized that I WAS NOT HOLDING TRASH as I first thought but an IMPORTANT PIECE OF MAIL THAT BELONGED TO MY NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR.
As I said earlier, we walk through life, and the Holy Spirit faithfully opens doors of opportunity to share Jesus with others. Yet we must be prepared spiritually to step through the open doors.
- Believers must pray for such opportunities. &
- Christians must pray for courage & boldness to walk through these doors.
When Paul began to pray for the mission the LORD would lead him to take, Paul desired to go one place, but “A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (The Acts of the Apostles 16: 9 NASB) As Paul WALKED THROUGH THAT OPEN DOOR, he was able to meet a woman named Lydia, a European from the city of Thyatira. She listened as Paul shared the Gospel one Sabbath day, “and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” ((The Acts of the Apostles 16: 14b NASB)
When I saw that my neighbor’s name was on that piece of mail laying on the road, the Holy Spirit spoke to my soul saying, “Nancy, you need to take this to Donna.” To say I immediately responded: “Okay, God, I will obey you,” would just be a lie. I contemplated how to get this mail to Donna.
- I could just place it in her mailbox, but that is a felony act you know (to open another’s mailbox).
- I could just leave the envelope on the road because it probably really was trash. Why wouldn’t she have this envelope in her possession if it was so important? Right?!!!
Needless to say, the Holy Spirit thankfully speaks louder than Satan does!
Hallelujah!
THANK YOU, GOD—for allowing me to listen to your sweet Holy Spirit because what happened next was exactly why WE MUST WALK THROUGH THE DOORS THE LORD PROVIDES.
That morning, I knocked on my neighbor’s door as I stood on her side porch. When she opened her screen door, GOD DID THE MOST AMAZING THING!
- She asked me about my recent back surgery, sharing that during her work as a nurse, she had injured her back. She was currently on medical leave and contemplating whether to actually have the needed back fusion—just like me. I promised to pray for her, that she would be led to make the best decision. Truly, I think seeing my success AFTER BACK SURGERY was an encouragement to her.
- My neighbor invited me in to see her home and to meet her two beautiful grandsons. I so enjoyed talking with them.
- When I invited her to come sit beside me at church, she responded by saying, “You know, I have worked every weekend as a nurse, but now that I am home on Sunday, I thought it would be nice to attend church.” I got her cell number and promised to text her the details about church. Maybe tomorrow will be the day she decides to come with me.
- Then, my lovely neighbor spoke the most-amazing words, in a question really.
“Nancy, are you going to grow a garden this year.”
“No, Darrell doesn’t think it would be good for me this year. I will probably just stop by the local markets this summer for my vegetables.”
Since 2006, I have grown a garden, and my favorite part is when I loaded up my Club Car, driving down my country road to share vegetables with my neighbors.
She said, “The other day, I asked Darrell what vegetables you like most. My daughter and I are growing two gardens this year, and we want to share our vegetables with you.”
I hugged my next-door neighbor, not for the promise of vegetables & not for the shared conversation—but because GOD HAD FLUNG OPEN A WIDE DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY FOR A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP!
MAY WE WHO ARE CHRIST-FOLLOWERS—
- Pray for the opening of God-sized doors of opportunity to share the Gospel.
- Pray for the courage to step through the doors the LORD provides.
- Pray “that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.” (The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 6: 19b NASB)