Door, with a capital D

It’s been said that when God closes a door He opens a window.

I don’t completely agree.

Rather, I choose to believe that when God closes a door He opens another Door—Himself. He is the Door (John 10). Door, with a capital D. That’s one of His names, a facet of His character, part of His very essence. I love the way Elisabeth Elliot puts it: “It is in the acceptance of what is given that God gives Himself.”

Recent closed doors in my own life, ranging from irritating inconveniences (a broken blender when I’m trying to make a fruit smoothie) to major frustrations (unraveled plans for student teaching) to deep disappointments (a relationship not turning out as hoped), quite honestly leave me gasping for air. When multiple doors are slamming on me, forget a window; I need the Door.

I choose to believe that in His goodness, wisdom, power, and love, God, the Door, makes every closed door a wide open invitation—an invitation to trust Him more, to get to know Him more, to love Him more, to identify with Him more (see Romans 8:28-29). Ultimately, He knows how to use those maddening closed doors to open His glory to us.