“Help me!” Even before I heard her plaintive cry, I heard the thumping on the door. The doors in our house tended to stick and my little one lacked the strength to push this one open. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she asked for help. Smiling, I opened the door and greeted her with outstretched arms. 

As I think about that time, I realize how much I am like my little one. I often pound on different doors ~ wanting, watching, and waiting for them to open. Doors that I believe will open the way to new relationships, golden opportunities, and realized dreams. But when these doors stick, I’m unable to force them open. Just like my little one, I find myself on the outside, crying to God for help.

When I think about knocking on doors, this passage from the Sermon on the Mount comes to mind:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)

A cursory reading might lead us to believe any door will open to us, if only we knock long and hard enough. But instinct and experience tells us otherwise. Jesus continues His message with these words:

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11 NIV)

Jesus makes it clear. Doors will open only if they offer us something God sees as good for us. This can be so hard to understand, especially when what I see on the other side of the door looks good to me. 

Just this week the door closed to an opportunity I’ve wanted for a long time. As I processed my disappointment, it helped me to look back at some of the other doors I’ve encountered in my life. 

Some doors opened wide and allowed me to experience the blessings available on the other side. But other doors stay closed. With hindsight, I can see God always had a reason for keeping the door shut. Sometimes a closed door protected me from compromising my faith or experiencing a deep hurt. Other times God had something better planned for me.

Although I can’t see the reason why God closed this particular door, I trust He did it for my good. As He has shown me, sometimes closed doors are blessings in disguise.

Wherever our travels take us, we will find some doors will open to us, while others will remain closed. In either case, I pray we can trust the One who always chooses what is best for us.