Does One Door Really Open After Another Closes?

It has been a long time since I have sat down to put all of my thoughts into actual entries. I began keeping a mini-composition book in my purse so that I had a place to eat least jot down the feelings and thoughts I have in the midst of my busy schedule. At one point I sat down and wrote several entries and began to fall asleep, so I closed my journal and put down my pen. But, first I wrote the above title.

True to form, I have no real idea as to what the title is about. I think I have a general thought and found a Scripture passage I had written on a piece of paper.  I am assuming that the passage is for this entry since it refers to closed and open doors.

"These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name."--Revelation 3:7-8

We have often heard the old cliche` "When one door closes, another one opens". I have often wondered if that were true or if it was a saying made with the intention of softening the blows of our disappointments, failed plans, and shattered dreams. But according to the above passage, it IS very true.

Joshua and I have experienced many of these moments in our lives, especially during the past two years. After some very hurtful, difficult times, I sought other employment. A friend told me of an opening for a school nurse, so I jumped on the opportunity. We just knew this was the answer to our prayers in several areas of our life.

The disappointment was bitter when the letter came and the official news was given at the board meeting that someone else was chosen to fill that position. It was very difficult for me to see any benefit to this. But, I trudged along struggling to keep myself out of the darkness of disappointment and depression while others tried to encourage me with ,"It wasn't in God's plans for you." or "It wasn't meant to be." or the infamous,"When God closes one door, He opens another." As well intended people's words were, they did nothing to soothe my hurting and broken heart.

But, as I put myself out there to substitute teach, the word was given to me that there was a reading interventionist leaving her position for another job, maybe I would like that. So, I spent the time and money to take the exam to certify me as a paraprofessional (teacher's aide). But, I met another dead end...they were not filling the vacancy after all.

So, after the Christmas holidays, I continued to substitute. Several weeks into the new year, I was approached by the principal. She told me that they did want to fill the vacancy and if I wanted it, the job was mine. And in a by-the-way sort of manner, she mentioned that she had heard that I had my bachelor's degree and that the interventionist position was perfect for me to work on my post-baccalaureate certification for education.

WOW! In my words, "God opened another door, and perhaps a window, too!" I am a nurse; I love being a nurse. I would jump on a school nurse position in a heartbeat. However, a spark of interest in teaching was ignited at that moment in time. That spring and this fall, I have found just how much I love small group interventions. I love what I am doing right now!

Just as I was settling into not getting a school nurse position and loving my job as an interventionist, Josh began to really struggle with his job/career choice and lack of pay and benefits for our family. We were plunging deeper and deeper into debt. He began to feel the weight of this weigh very heavily on his shoulders and in his heart. We prayed and talked and thought very hard about a career change for him.

So, this past fall, we agreed that he would put out some feelers and applications with some offshore companies. One Friday, he had stopped off at his uncle's and mentioned his new job search. His uncle said that he thought his supervisor was looking for a guy right now to fill a new position on a 2-man platform that was going to become a 3-man crew.

So, his uncle called his boss who told Josh that, yes, he needed someone like yesterday and to call him first thing Monday morning. WOW! Another door opened, or so we thought.

Monday, Josh worked very hard to try to reach this guy. Then when he did, there was quite a bit of hesitation about the position. A door slammed shut, or so we thought. It seemed as if the position had never officially existed or they already had someone in mind for or had filled the position.

By now, we had become a bit more adapted to closed doors and resigned ourselves to the fact that this was not a door to be opened. The next morning, Josh received a text message from the guy to call ASAP. So Josh did. Then I got a message asking me to meet him outside to talk. He asked if I was ready for the offshore wife life. The man told Josh the position was his if he wanted it. And if he wanted it, he needed to report the next day for training and would begin his first hitch out the next week.

Okay...DOUBLE WOW! We had just experienced a roller coaster of opened doors, closed doors, and now opened doors. He took the job and regretfully had to give a letter of resignation from the police department effective immediately instead of the customary two-weeks' notice. that was a very difficult thing for him to do. Josh was a police officer because he loved what he did, he was good at what he did. He made a huge sacrifice for the betterment of our family.

The past two years have been full of opened and closed doors (and some windows, as I like to say). The above examples are just a few. It was just recently that I came across the passage in Revelation that answers the question in the title "Does one door really open after another one closes?" The answer is most emphatically "Yes!" The main concepts I got from this passage were that when one door closes, another one opens; that what God opens cannot be closed; and that what God closes cannot be opened.

The doors, or maybe just windows, aren't always the ones for which we are searching. They may lead to totally foreign and uncharted territories. But, they are there. God does provide opportunities for His children. And, as I have learned, once He closes that door, it does not benefit me to dwell on what was on the other side. Instead, I must look to the new, open door to what He has in store for my future!