Are you grateful? – Day 6

Have you ever been thankful for a closed door in your life? Of course, no one is initially grateful for a failed job application, the hurt and rejection after a break-up or when a purchase agreement for what you thought would be your dream home falls through. Yet, do you thank or blame God for these “closed doors” amidst your disappointment?

During the past few years, various readers shared testimonies of their gratefulness with regards to God’s provision, protection and ability to comfort them in their darkest hour. Reading through these e-mails, it struck me how many times a “closed door” was needed for an individual to experience God’s presence and power in a new way. God knows the future and because of this, we can rest assured that if we experience a closed door in the present, God is either busy forming or shaping our character, or he is busy protecting us from a wrong choice, because he has something much bigger and better in store for the future.

In Jeremiah 29:11 God says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.” In Romans 8:28 we read: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.” And in Isaiah 22, God calls Eliakim to service and says the following about him in verse 22: “I will give him the key to the house of David … When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.” God could give this power because this authority belongs to him.

Maybe I should ask you again: Do you thank or blame God for closed doors in your life? Maybe you will thank God for that failed job application, as it made it possible for you to be appointed in a much better position a few months down the line (for which you would not have qualified if you received that initial job). That painful break-up might be all that was needed for you to meet your true soulmate and future spouse. And the contract of sale that fell through, could perhaps have been the greatest protection and blessing from God as you own a much better home today.

Let’s deliberately be grateful for closed doors in our lives – even if we don’t understand it initially. In a few weeks, months or years, we might understand the blessing it contained. God bless.