Friday, December 28, 2007

Door of Work and Adversaries

1 Cor. 16:9 – ‘For a wide door for effective work has opened for me, and there are many adversaries.’

Isn’t it exciting to think of a great AND effective door opening for you? Are there things you dream of accomplishing, but it seems the door is closed? At times there are open doors that look like they will lead to success. But then when you walk through them, nothing happens, and the dream crumbles before your eyes. Other times a great door opens, and it is not only great, but also effective.

There is a natural tendency to think that when God opens doors, that everything will go smoothly, and you won’t have any hardship, trouble, or failure. But the verse above actually indicates the opposite is true: when a great and effective door is open, there will be not a few, but many adversaries.

A human tendency is to look at opposition as a sign that you are doing something wrong. Perhaps sometimes that is true, but it can also be true that when you begin to walk and start to do exactly what He has called you to do, that opposition abounds, and seem to multiply before your eyes. If you’ve waited on the Lord and determined that you are indeed heading in the right direction, keep pressing on so that the door before you will not only be open, but effective. (RL)