Hallways and Doors

“The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.” Joshua 6:16 NIV

Ever heard they saying that if God closes one door, He opens another? I’ve both heard it and quoted it, but I am re-thinking that saying as I get older. He has opened doors throughout my life. There is no possibility that I would have picked the course the way it has turned out. I have two degrees and use neither. I started in a profession I had trained for and left it for one I had never heard of. I’m sitting in a hotel in Harper, Kansas after a day that had one interaction with another human. The day was not a failure, it was neutral. But one really good conversation.

When I started this job 15 years ago, I counted every house. I counted every rejection and every unanswered door. I can choose to do it that way, but it makes for a lot longer day when all you are doing is counting the nothings.

I always want God to open doors. I ask Him to open doors. Usually, I ask Him to slam them shut if I am heading through the wrong opening. Sometimes our determination to be persistent doesn’t really change the outcome as much as it delays it. I am not powerful enough to change God’s planned course of action. But if I can change my stubbornness to willingness then I can align with Him faster than my normal tendency.

The older I get the more I realize that the door opening itself is not the important part. God can throw me through the door if He wants. I do not have to be skilled in order for Him to operate. My tendency has always been to think that if I am not actively searching for the next door then I am sort of like my day today, neutral. I do not believe that anymore.

What I think is that the greatest need is in the hallway. There are lots of people in the hall that we can interact with. Some people may be heading to the same room we are, some may have just left it and we can learn from them. But more importantly we can listen for announcements from the Creator of the journey. A lot of the miracles you find in the bible have followed a time of waiting, hallway.

One of my favorites is when God told Johua to have soldiers march around the city of Jericho for six days. God instructed them specifically to carry rams horns, but to not advance on Jericho – yet. On the seventh day they marched and sounded those trumpets and then they shouted, the wall collapsed, and everyone charged straight in, Jericho was conquered by an obedient marching band. God did not need the seven days. He could have done it with no marching or shouting. Why wait for six days?

I have always wondered what it was like inside the wall of Jericho. The first day or two people inside the wall must have thought the army outside was crazy. After seven days of trumpets blaring, I think it might have been a little annoying. At what point did any of them realize that God was about to do something big?

What door are you praying for God to open?

Have you considered the hallway you are standing in? Could it be that God wants you to just stay there?

Challenge: Be patient in the hallway. The wait could be for a door to open. But you may be the door God is about to open for someone else.

Rick Claiborn