He Holds the Key to Every Door

He is opening doors no one can lock,
locking doors no one can open
(Revelation 3:7 MSG)

When God closes a door, He means for it to stay closed. So, if He has closed a door for you, put down the tools you were planning to use to force it open. Let Him either open a new door of His choosing or re-open a closed door in His perfect timing. And trust Him to know which is best.

No-one can open a door that God has closed. And when He opens a door, no-one can close it. Ask Paul. Paul and his team were enjoying great missionary success. God opened doors for him, Silas and Timothy and it seemed that nothing could stop them.

Then suddenly, the Holy Spirit started closing doors. Paul tried going east, door closed. He tried north, door closed. He tried south, door closed. Then finally a door opened - to go west - into Europe.

Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace (Acts 16: 11 NKJV).

The Holy Spirit knew it was time for the gospel to leave Asia Minor and spread into Europe and then to the ends of the earth. And because of that open door, Lydia came to Christ and the Gospel spread into Europe.

Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14 NJV).

Then Paul and Silas ended up in prison behind locked doors. This time a physical locked door. But God had a plan for the jailer and his family. He needed Paul and Silas right where they were. And then He blasted the prison doors open and the Philippian jailer and his family were saved.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized (Acts 16:26; 32-33 NKJV). 

Once God closed the door to the ark, only He could open it. If God had given Noah a spare key, he may have opened the door at the wrong time and sunk to a watery grave taking the ark and everyone in it with him. Or he may have opened it before the ground was dry enough to bear his weight and sunk into a morass of mud. Mrs. Noah would not have been pleased to have been presented with that piece of laundry!

Once God had the Roman soldiers seal the tomb of Christ, only He could open it. Closed doors resulted in Moses becoming the deliverer of his people. Closed doors resulted in Joseph becoming the savior of a nation from starvation and the deliverance of his brothers so that God’s plan for redemption could come to pass through the nation of Israel.

Even Jesus faced a locked door. When He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and asked for the cup to pass Him by, the answer was no.

Sometimes locked doors are blessings in disguise.  God may be protecting you and keeping you from a path that would lead to calamity. He closes the wrong doors, so He can lead you through the right ones. Sometimes we get to see why the door was locked as we look back with deeper understanding, but frustratingly sometimes we never know why a particular door was locked. That is where we just have to trust in Him and hold onto the knowledge that everything He does is for our good.

And we know that in all things God works for the good those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8: 28 NKJV)

And always remember, a closed door doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you. Often it is quite the opposite, it is proof that He does.

 For I know that the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of good and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).