Closed Doors, Open Doors — Morning Devotions

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Alexander Graham Bell wouldn’t have achieved all the things he did if he’d lost hope and quit early on. He himself had many failures and setbacks in his career and private life, but he didn’t use these as reasons to quit. Rather, he forged new opportunities for himself, his family, and his career. Thankfully he was a determined person with the wisdom to keep shooting after his first miss. He also developed medical technology, so he always said that preparation is the key to success, and we could apply this simple statement to many areas of life. When one door closes, look for another door or look for an open door. Get up, try again. Don’t let failures stop you from moving forward.

The doors of life

As the jazz trumpeter great Miles Davis once said, when you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that makes it good or bad. Why do you feel defeated so often when there is another solution just around the corner? Have doors closed for you, loss or age can close some doors, or unexpected life changes can close some doors? It’s true that there are days when we need encouragement to just keep going, and this quote, when one door closes, another opens, reminds me to not dwell on the past but to focus on a potentially brighter future.

It may be that the time you were retrenched from your job allowed you to find another job with better pay or more opportunities, and that’s one example that I’ve heard a few people say. A new door opened that gave them tremendous future despite losing that job. Karen Salmansohn is an American author and a behavioural change expert, and she wrote this. If a door closes, quit banging on it. Whatever was behind it was not meant for you, consider that perhaps the door was closed because you’re worth so much more than what was on the other side. Good advice. Many people are too attached to the past, to what they’re familiar with, and therefore miss the opportunities that are right in front of them. Yes, doors may close, but there are always other unlimited number of doors, new opportunities. The world is actually full of opportunities if we can only see them. The infinite power is boundless, so the possibilities are without number.

More aware of your thoughts that you don’t get stuck in the past. Do the best you can to free yourself from thoughts that keep you stuck in one place. Think new thoughts. Look at the world from a broader perspective. When facing difficulties, practicing acceptance can help maintain your perspective. Now this involves acknowledging the situation without judgement and letting go of what you cannot control. As the serenity prayer goes, consider accepting the things I cannot change.

When life closes one door, it often opens another. Finding that door requires faith and perseverance, faith that there are new possibilities ahead, even though I can’t see them. And perseverance means to keep putting 1 foot in front of the other until we walk through that next open door. Taking things one day at a time can make the path forward less daunting. Each morning, set a small achievable goal for the day, and as you complete it, perseverance and faith will come. Small steps stack up over time into great distances travelled. Practising gratitude also fuels optimism and resilience. God has given so much to you. Count the blessings that you already have.

Instead of focusing on the closed doors in life, there is always something to appreciate. Trust in a loving and eternal God who wants the best for you. Ask God to open and close the doors in your life, to take you on the best plan. When an opportunity is blocked, remember that God has a reason, and he’s providing love and protection in the midst of your disappointment.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, we realise how human it is to be anxious and upset when that door is closed that we want to go through. Something that we wanted to pursue is suddenly slammed in our face, and we don’t know what to do next. But as we trust in you, Lord, we trust in you for every day for the new opportunities that will come. Close doors, open doors. I want to remain in your will, whatever happens. Amen.

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