A Blessed Closed Door

If you had a chance between getting a "Yes" as an answer to your prayer request, or getting a "No", which would you choose? I used to think, Why of course I'd want the Yes. Now I'm not so sure that would be my answer.

Lately, I'm learning to love all the No's God has been sending my way. I'm appreciating the obvious closed doors that occur because I see how the doors that do open are so "of God" and not of my own doing. Now when a door closes in front of me, I'm not banging on it as long as I used to, not railing against it as though it were an insult to my character or my productivity. A closed door- a "No" - is simply God's way of saying "YES" to something else.

I went to a class last night. (I told the instructor, when I arrived, that I might have to leave early if I started coughing. This cold/allergy attack has had me spiraling into these coughing spells where I can barely catch my breath). I had signed up for this adult education class over a month ago. I'm not even going to tell you what the instructor was teaching on- because that isn't important. What's important is that I sat there with my mouth practically hanging open in wonder, perceiving all these realities she was discussing, and "seeing" some things clearly for the very first time.

Yesterday seemed to be a day when my eyes were opened to a lot of things. One person, in the afternoon, relayed a story to me about a friend who had finally gotten a job opportunity...in a different geographical location than where they had been looking. This friend of theirs had been getting a lot of No's for a long time and then they suddenly had some opened doors-but in a whole different place, setting, than they had thought to look.

I think God's loving No to us is meant to provoke us to search for His loving Yes elsewhere. But so often we think God says No to us with a stern look on His face and that He says Yes to us with a smile on His face. I see it so differently now. It just may be that God says No with more love for you than you could ever imagine. It isn't a No for the purpose of discouraging you, depressing you, disheartening you. It's a No so that you can get to His Yes. It's a No because it may not be good enough- what you're asking of Him. Or it may be that you have no idea of what God has in mind for you and He has to completely redirect your thoughts and your path.

I am welcoming these closed doors now. I see these "No's" as though they were the open door I'm longing for. After all, these closed doors are what God is using to get me into His place of abundance, His Yes for my heart's deepest desire. These are doors that He has closed out of love for me, out of planning for my good future. His "No" is still always a "Yes, I love you- and you haven't seen anything yet!!"

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.
Jer. 29:11