S05E075, Open Doors, Andy B 2 Minute Video

Download - Listen - Transcription

We all instinctively know that the best way to move through a wall is via a door way. We know that we’re not going to push the brick wall into conceding us to move through it.

So why is it so often we find ourselves straining against the walls of life, getting worn out and angry that God has somehow failed to help us move through this solid object? When, in reality, there is a wide, gaping, open doorway just a few feet away.

We sometimes talk about following God as walking along a path – that he guides us along the paths of life. We read something similar with the shepherds when Jesus was born as God even used a star to guide the shepherds to their destination.

In my walls and doors metaphor, that would be similar to God providing the shepherds with a bright light to light their path, the shepherds knowing about that bright light and the reason for it, then covering their eyes and blindly walking forwards hoping to strike the right path.

In our lives we so often do this don’t we. God calls us; we move towards His voice; we encounter an object and assume God needs to remove that obstacle. And, yet, if we opened our eyes – instead of moving forwards in fear, or terror – we’d notice the open door inviting us on.

Is life getting difficult as you try and move along? Perhaps God wants you to open your eyes and enjoy the journey. With God, it will always be epic, even if, sometimes, a little scary!

Just a thought...

Andy B

Listen
 

Download

Transcript

So another Andy B Two Minute Video, and I'm looking to the side cause I've forgotten the title already. Do you ever have that? When you're trying to do something so hard and you, your brain just doesn't allow you to get where you're supposed to be. And that kind of fits quite nicely, actually, with the idea of this, because I call this Open Doors.

Now, this isn't about getting Bibles into closed countries. This is about an open door. And, quite often, one of the illustrations, metaphors, pictures, images that you'll find in churches and Christian circles, is you talk about these open and closed doors. The Skit Guys, some great comedians from the States, do a brilliant thing about if God closes a door, he is not gonna open a window. And we have all these metaphors around doors and windows and openings and all that. So here's what I was thinking today.

So often, whether we are thinking about Christian context, work context, whatever, church, it doesn't matter. We think about walking through a doorway. We understand what a [00:01:00] doorway is. It's a hole in a wall and it can have a door on it or not. It's a, it's a place to walk through. 

The door doesn't really matter because it's an opening. It's where you walk through from one place to another, one room to another. 

Now, when I'm thinking about open doors, what I'm thinking about is how often we can be almost trying to walk blind towards God. And we can be pushing against the wall and we can have our hands down. We're pushing so, so hard, putting all that energy into getting this wall to open up before us and yet, two feet away, there's an open doorway. But we get so intense, and so focused, that we miss the obvious. 

Now I'm here thinking about how do we follow God? How do we know His voice? How do we know we're walking the way He wants us to walk? Are we doing what He asked us to do? Open doors really comes into it because walking as a Christian is not complicated. It can be challenging. It can be easy. [00:02:00] But it's never meant to be complicated! Because it's a simple message. 

If we follow Jesus, He will guide us. Now the complications come because we are humans and we make it complicated. But the Bible, the message of the cross, the gospel message following God is not complicated. We make a choice. We follow he leads, we find peace. That's it really simply.

When it comes to Open Doors if you are thinking God's asked me to do ,this and there's a wall in the way and I can't get through, it may be that God has not asked you to go that way. So take a few steps back and say, God, can you, can you show me the door. And allow Him the privilege of showing you the door that He wants you to go through? Rather than exhausting yourself pushing a wall that's never gonna move. 

Just a thought.