People talk about God’s path for life as a series of open and shut doors. The thinking goes that God shuts some doors of opportunity, and we cannot go through them. Other doors are open to us, and that represents God’s will.   

I have seen God open doors of opportunity in my life. Doors opened for me to go to the college that was the right fit for me. Doors opened for me to do graduate work and deepen my understanding of God’s word. Doors opened for our family to buy our first house.   

But God’s will for our lives is not just a matter of open and closed doors. I turned the doorknobs of some doors, and they opened. I went through the door and made myself at home in the new room. Sometimes it didn’t take long for me to realize this room was not a healthy place for me to be. Sometimes I was blind or stubborn and stayed way too long in a toxic environment. Just because a door opens doesn’t mean God wants you to go through that door. 

It is also true that I picked the locks of some closed doors because I had a sense of what was on the other side, and I wanted it more than I wanted to follow God. Having worked so hard to get through the door, I would stay to get what I wanted. Then I wanted more, so I stayed longer. I could hear God’s voice calling me to get out of the room before my soul was misshaped, but I stubbornly stayed. I finally left some of those rooms, but like a coal miner who worked in the mines too long and got black lung disease, I have to live with the soul damage for the rest of my life. I’m also embarrassed to admit in the back corners of my mind, I remember how to pick those locks, just in case I ever want to go back. 

I’ve heard people say when God doesn’t open a door; he gives you a window. I’ve always been a bit puzzled by this. Is the window for escape, or so you can look at something you aren’t supposed to have? No one was ever clear about this. A man once told me, “I never should have divorced my first wife. She was a good woman and a good mother. But I turned forty-six and got a little crazy. I chased a younger woman who loved my money more than me. She got pregnant, I got divorced, and now I’m working like a dog to support her spending addiction.”  His head was hanging down the whole time he was talking, and I could feel his regret. Maybe God does give us a window to say, “This is why that door is closed.” 

A few times in my life, I felt the voice of God calling me from behind a closed door. God was saying, “I want you to come through the door into this new space.”  I tried the doorknob, and the door wouldn’t open. I would say to God, “The door’s locked!”  God would reply, “I know. Look beside the door. I have given you a sledgehammer. Bust through the door.” 

These are not my favorite moments. Beating down a door is not easy, not at all like you see on a home improvement show on TV. It is hard, sweaty work. Sometimes, you have to take a break. Progress can be slow. I think Moses must have felt this way, leading God’s people through the wilderness for forty years. 

When you finally break through the door, you ask God, “Why did you make it so hard? You could have unlocked the door and let me in.”  God smiles and says, “Yes, but you needed to grow your patience and strength, so I wanted you to use the sledgehammer to break the door down.” 

Finding God’s will and doing it is not a formula. God is not limited to doors, windows, or sledgehammers. God reveals his will for our lives in the best way for us to receive it. Maybe that is why Jesus never gave us step-by-step instructions but a simple invitation: “Come, follow me.” 

There is a verse in Isaiah that says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; Call upon him while he is near.”  If you really want God’s will for your life, get as close to God as you can, and ask him. God will answer you. He may answer you with an open door, or a window, or provide you with a sledgehammer. 

Or God might just grin and say, “Follow me.”