Devotional: An open door

See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. Revelation 3:7-12

When you have just lost a job, a contract has evaporated, a promising path has gone nowhere, or your bag of hope has leaked a trail of sand behind you, then it does not feel like “an open door that no one can shut.”  Some of us have gone so long, we feel we haven’t seen a door for quite some time.  So what do we do?

First, we recognize that the real doors are in the heavenly realm. Second, we know who holds the keys. “These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the keys of David.”  Third, we don’t get hung up on our own condition. “I know that you have little strength…”

What do we do when we feel a door is shut in our face?  

‘Keep my word …do not deny my name …endure patiently …hold on to what you have …don’t let anyone take your crown …keep your reward in sight.’  

Finally, see that we are not lost and gone, but rather temporarily slowed down, suspended, or in dry dock while God writes a new name on us.  

“I will write on him the name of My God… and I will also write on him (who overcomes) My new name.”  

Laid off, laid aside, set back, sealed behind a closed door?  No; just temporarily closed for renaming.

Reflections

• Do you sometimes feel that you are forgotten behind a closed door?
  
  
• Why do you think God sometimes shuts doors in front of you?
  
  
• Are there any aspects of past productivity that God has shut down for a season?
  
  
• What new name might God speak over your life when he declares you “open for business” again?