1 Cor 16:8-9 – But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
Most effective doors of opportunity in life are those that are repulsive or non attractive. In Paul’s case he understands that adversaries are his confirmation that a “great effective door” has opened for him. Instead of walking away and saying, “It must not be the Lord”, he is basically saying, “I’m staying here and hanging in, because hardness proves that something has already opened for me.”
You can see this pattern through out the whole Bible, where God allows trials or a Goliath to stand before open opportunities. Yet out of those trials, draws the hidden generals of faith to come out of silence and say, “Is there not a cause?” “The giants are food for us!”
However, over the years, mainly in the western world, most of us have been subconsciously taught to walk away or retreat from those things that present opposition, To most, they are a sign that we are not in the will of God or there is “no grace” to fulfill the purposed plan, so it must not be the Lord.
Even in the beginning of the Lord’s walk, He was forced by the Holy Spirit to starve and be tempted by the devil in the wilderness for forty days. I probably would have said, “This can’t be the Lord, I just had the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and remain upon my life! I’m out of here! It’s time for me to fulfill my purpose! Everything has too line up and peacefully!”
Even Jesus knew, “If the devil is showing up here in My wilderness, there must be a great effective door open for Me, so I will stay until it is time to walk through it.”
In our daily lives, these types of “open doors” cross our path constantly. Before you walk away or reject them, pause for a moment and ask the Holy Spirit, “Is this the open door that I need to walk through?” You will be amazed at what the answer will be! Even in the life of your relationships, God will even send those that you don’t like as your door to “opportunity. If you embrace them instead of reject them, you see God’s purpose that had been hidden, then gladly enter in.
See God’s doors, not yours:)