How To Navigate Life When God Closes All Doors.
Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
What do you do when God closes all doors? Have you been experiencing setbacks and delays of late? Have you had doors slam on your face that you were expecting? Maybe it’s an opportunity that fell through that you were waiting on. If you answered yes to any of this, then this word will encourage you. We all go through seasons where all that is happening in our lives are doors slamming on our faces. And it hurts, especially when the said door was your saving grace. Maybe you are going through a season where even the safety net has broken and you have nothing else to do.
While going through this season, of when God closes all doors, it’s easy to think that God is punishing you and that there is no way out. But could God be trying to get your attention? Maybe you are wondering how this could be? Let me ask you this: has God been speaking to you about doing something but you have been dily dallying because you did not think you had the time or skills required to do the said thing? Maybe God is closing all these doors because He wants you to finally focus on your purpose. In the moment, it could feel like God is punishing you. But maybe He is just making you uncomfortable because He wants you to step into the path He ordained for you.
Has it ever occurred to you that you are blocking other people from walking in their purposes because of your procrastination? Do you know that there are people whose promises are tied to yours? Maybe God called you to be a pioneer and pave the way for others. And that’s why God is doing this, because He wants you to get on to doing what He put inside you.
Can you imagine if Abraham would have delayed on moving when God told him to. He would have forfeited the promise of becoming the father of many nations and the father of the Jews. What about Moses? If he had said no to the task of rescuing the Israelites? He would have not become the deliverer of the Jews. Now don’t get me wrong, God is Sovereign but He always wants to partner with us and that’s why He says He never does anything unless He first reveals it to His people.
Surely the Lord God does nothing Without revealing His secret plan [of the judgment to come] To His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7 AMP https://bible.com/bible/1588/amo.3.7.AMP
When God closes all doors, it is not to punish you. He does so to get you uncomfortable so that you can move in the direction of your purpose. As human beings, we are naturally wired as creatures of habit. So often God has to disrupt our peace so that we can do what He ordained for us. God might close great doors because He has better for us. Of course, at the time it might be difficult to see what He will do, but when you hold on, He will open doors that are beyond our wildest dreams.
When God closes all doors: How can you partner with God?
Mourn what was.
First off, it’s clear that you had an idea of how you thought your life would be. And it’s okay to admit that the turn of events hurt and disappointed you. Your life is not what you envisioned and God knows that you are hurting. So instead of burying your emotions and avoiding them, confront them so that the healing can start. Healing starts when you are confident enough to acknowledge your feelings. You are human after all. And it is okay to admit that you are hurting because your life has taken a turn you did not expect.
It’s okay to cry, be sad and feel all the emotions that come with being disappointed. And as you do, take it all to God. Be honest about what you really feel and ask Him to heal the broken heart. For you to walk in what God wants you to, you first have to experience healing, and that can only happen by acknowledging your pain and hurt. As you cast your pain and worry to Him, He will fill you with His peace and His healing power will flow through every area of your life. Every time you spend with God changes you and never think that you are wasting your time when you pray and turn to God.
As you mourn what was, ask God to help you let go of the idea you had in your mind. Our ways and thoughts are not similar to God’s, so we will clash from time to time. Asking God to help you let go will give you the strength to move forward. Letting go will help you learn to move forward and trust God again. When we experience disappointment, we easily lose faith in God. This is because even though we don’t admit it, we do question God and why He allowed things to happen as they did. Therefore, it is important to mourn what was when God closes all doors.
Be vulnerable with God and allow all those emotions to come out. Don’t be afraid to be real with Him. David was very honest with God. And all His emotions are written in the book of Psalms. If David knew to be honest then, you should not be afraid, to be honest now.
Start small, start now.
God will never leave you fully depleted. And the doors He closes are because He wants you to focus on what He created you for. Ask yourself what is in your hand. What skill do you have? Maybe it’s writing, could God be telling you to write a book? Or maybe a blog? Maybe God is asking you to start a Youtube Chanel because you are an amazing speaker.
Remember, your story matters and there are people who will experience healing and deliverance by listening to your story. Your voice and your story matter. Abraham, through his obedience, became the founder of the Jews. That seed you have now will be the very thing that God will use to catapult you to the place you have always wanted. There are prayers you prayed and this season is ushering in the answers to those prayers.
The very thing that is in your hand is what God wants you to use. You are never fully depleted, there is always something left to give. The prophet’s widow thought she had nothing left to give to rescue her children from being sold as slaves. Turns out that the little jar of oil that she had was all that was needed to solve her problem. Sometimes you will need to look at your life from a spiritual realm.
A man from the group of prophets had a wife. This man died, and his wife cried out to Elisha, “My husband was like a servant to you. Now he is dead! You know he honored the Lord. But he owed money to a man. Now that man is coming to take my two boys and make them his slaves!” 2 Elisha answered, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” The woman said, “I don’t have anything in the house except a jar of olive oil.” 3 Then Elisha said, “Go and borrow bowls from all your neighbors. They must be empty. Borrow plenty of bowls. 4 Then go to your house and close the doors. Only you and your sons will be in the house. Then pour the oil into all the bowls. Fill them, and put them in a separate place.”
5 So the woman left Elisha, went into her house, and shut the door. Only she and her sons were in the house. Her sons brought the bowls to her and she poured oil. 6 She filled many bowls. Finally, she said to her son, “Bring me another bowl.” But all the bowls were full. One of the sons said to her, “There aren’t any more bowls.” Then the oil in the jar was finished! 7 When she told the man of God what had happened, Elisha said to her, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt. You and your sons can live on the money that is left.”
Yes, you might not have a job or maybe the opportunity is lost. But God can use what you have now to get you to that very place you have been asking Him. Is your faith big enough for God to move on your behalf? Remember, it is impossible to please God without faith. The reality is that when you seek God, you will find Him and He also rewards those who diligently seek Him. When you feel like you are running on empty remember, that you are never fully depleted.
Trust God
Without faith it is impossible to please God because everyone that comes to Him must believe that He is, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. This is obviously and unknown path and is scary. It will take you trusting in God for you to walk out your purpose.
Do you trust that God is good? Do you believe that He has a good plan for your life? The only way you will obey and trust His leading is if you believe that He is good to begin with. And for you to learn His character you have to spend time with Him and His word too.
This journey will require you to exercise your faith muscles so take time to study His word and learn about Him and as you do that you will realize that He has it all planned out and all you need to do is trust His leading and walk out what He is telling you to do.
God’s ways are always higher than ours and so are His thoughts. He knows the path He has for you, how He will get you there and the when too. So trust that He has everything all figured out. And everything in your life will work out for your good. You can plan but ultimately, God is the one who will ordain your steps.
Ask the Holy Spirit for help when God closes all doors.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be your helper and guide. So the fact that you are in a scary place means that He should be the one you turn to for help. He will even tell you the next step to take. The minute you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you had access to the HOLY Spirit. He now lives inside you and He is always eager and ready to speak to you. He does not want you to do life alone and wants to be involved in every area of your life.
Do you have moments where a thought is impressed in your spirit that you wonder where it came from? Maybe it’s a feeling you get when there is impending danger. Or maybe it is a voice that tells you no when you are about to sin. All these are ways the Holy Spirit will use to speak to you.
The litmus test of whether it is the Holy Spirit speaking is the word of God. The Holy Spirit will never contradict the word of God or His nature. So anytime you hear anything that aligns with The Bible, always know that it is the Holy Spirit speaking. When you learn to yield to that voice, you will gain clarity and will be able to discern when He is speaking. Never forget this: the Holy Spirit wants to speak to you more than you want to speak to Him. And He wants to help you more than you need His help. He is waiting on you to ask Him for help. When God closes all doors, use the time to talk to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to show you the way forward.
Conclusion.
God always has a plan for your life and just because things have gone wrong now doesn’t mean that they’ll stay that way forever. He always has a plan and although things right now look bad, they will be okay. When God closes all doors, it is because He has a great plan for your life and where you are now is not what He has for you. God will take away the good to give you better.
God shuts doors that will not benefit you because He knows what’s best for you. He will always guide you to the right path if you let Him. And if you find yourself at the end of the road, I want you to know that God has a new path and purpose for you that is greater than what you ever imagined for yourself. After all He does exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that you could ever ask, think or imagine.
I know you are hurting because you do not understand, but God did not bring you this far to leave you here. And also He is answering the prayers you made way back. God will first break and shake all that can be shaken because He wants you to have a solid foundation, and that is why He is taking you through this. He also wants to tear down all the idols so that you can walk in the fullness of Everything he has for you. Keep holding on and remember that God will always exceed your expectation and your best days are ahead of you. Could it be that God closed the door because He has a new path for you?
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Radiantly Resurging
Mercy is the author and founder of radiantly resurging. She is a Christian and having gone through the wilderness season, she decided to impart the knowledge learned to help others navigate their wilderness season too
