Knowing how to discern the signs an open door is from God is necessary as a Christian because it is not every opportunity that comes appearing attractive and lucrative that means God is opening doors for you.
And on the other hand, you should not rush to draw a quick conclusion to say an opportunity is not from God just because it does not look certain and lucrative. Or it doesn’t meet your standard, and you don’t see yourself in that area or line of a profession in the nearest future.
This means we also need to remember that not every time the signs an open door is from God will be favorable and likable. So, in essence, I’m trying to say that how you know when God is opening an entry cannot be stereotyped to one pattern.
It might not always come as a bed of roses, where everything will work out fine and go smoothly, and it also might not always be bumpy. Sometimes it might even be a mixture of the two, smooth and rough, and sometimes it might just be one of either.
Sometimes, the signs an opportunity is from God is that God might decide to shut a door or some other doors so that all your attention and focus will only be on the one He wants you to focus on.
So when it seems everywhere is tight, pay attention and focus. There is an open door somewhere. Hence, the signs an open door is from God cannot be defined by when something is lucrative and attractive or when it isn’t.
But instead, one ought to be sensitive in the spirit, to discern and look beyond the façade to comprehend and understand how to know if God has opened a door and what type of door is opened.
In our lives as believers, God opens many doors in many ways. He opens doors to evangelize and minister the Gospel (1 Corinthians 16: 9; 2 Corinthians 2: 12). He opens doors to better communion with Him and a better understanding of the scriptures.
God also opens doors for wisdom and ideas to make money and material wealth. After all, He said in Deuteronomy 8: 18a (NIV), “But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”
So the signs an open door is from God are dynamically versatile. There are numerous signs that God is opening a new door in your life, and to understand these signs best, let us look into the meaning of an open door before we go further.
What Is The Meaning Of An Open Door?
If you’re wondering about what is the meaning of an open door? An open door means different things to people in different cultures and works of life.
In the business or corporate world, it means that every supervisor or manager’s door is open to every employee’s complaints, questions, suggestions, challenges, etc.
In political diplomacy, people from other countries, tribes, and nations can freely come into a country without restrictions to do business and exchange goods and services.
In Christianity today, an open door is a phrase that is often used in relation to material blessings, opportunities to reach or achieve a specific goal, and when one gets financial prosperity.
But in the Bible, an open door is mainly associated with God’s blessings and cares for His people Israel (Psalm 78: 23 – 24) and with kingdom advancement.
That is having an opportunity to evangelize and minister the Gospel to people, a chance to spread the seeds of the Gospel to a fertile people (Acts 14: 27; 1Corinthians 16: 9; 2Corinthians 2: 12 and Colossians 4: 3).
An open door generally means having an opportunity to access or attain a certain successful height easily. Therefore, it is mostly about having a chance to exploit, to accomplish one’s purpose in life.
So let us apply this further to discuss what does it mean when God opens a door?
What Does It Mean When God Opens A Door?
Have you ever pondered on the question, what does it mean when God opens a door?
When God opens a door in your life, it means that God will put you on a path that will lead you to a place where His purpose for you will be accomplished in your life.
This path might sometimes seem rigorous, and even the entire journey might not be suitable in any way, but the one sure thing is that everything will certainly fall in place at the right time so that God’s purpose for your life will be accomplished.
God is all-knowing and all-powerful. This means He knows all and sees all and can do whatever and however He chooses. He knows the minutest of your weaknesses and strengths, so He knows where to plant you at a particular time so that He will realize His purpose in your life.
And believe me, it must happen at a specific time because God’s plans always work with His timing. Everything God wants to accomplish in your life as a belief will all follow His pattern and timing.
So whenever God is opening doors in your life, in His all-knowing and all-powerful attribute, He will shut some other doors too. This is because He has already foreknew that these things will certainly distract you from being focused and following the path that will take you to accomplish His purposes in your life.
God wants every believer to be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ. This is the center and focus of God’s purposes for every believer. So whatever door God will open or shut in your life, it is all to achieve this.
So what does it mean when God opens a door? This means that God is bringing different opportunities your way, making things fall in place for you, which can even entail Him shutting other doors to keep your focus on remaining on His path.
To best understand this, let us enumerate and elaborate on nine signs an open door is from God.
9 Signs An Open Door Is From God
1. It Never Contradicts God’s Word
One of the first and most vital things to note about the signs an open door is from God is that any open door that is from God will never directly or indirectly and, in a paradoxical manner, contradicts God’s word.
For instance, God will not say in His word, thou shall not steal (Exodus 20: 15; ), or thou shall not covet what belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20: 17) and then present you with an opportunity to make money or to be rich through dreaming by cheating and stealing.
This will in no way conform you to the image and likeness of Christ, which is the primary and core purpose of any opened door God will present to you.
It causes you to grow in the knowledge of God and Christ – which is to spend time studying the Bible and in prayers. These two work hand in hand. When you study, you need to communicate with God to help you understand what you learned in prayers.
Any opened door or opportunity that God will bring to you must always directly or indirectly include these two things. Because for God to accomplish His purpose in your life, you must grow in the knowledge of God and Christ.
So any opportunity or open door that takes you away from this, be careful and pay closer attention. Not everything that looks lucrative monetarily means God is fully involved.
2. It Makes You Depend More On God
God will not give you anything or open any door that will make you self-dependent. He will not present an opportunity to you that will lead you to stay far away from Him.
Every open door or opportunity God will bring to you will lead you to conform to the image and likeness of Christ. And no one can conform to the image and likeness of Christ except the person who depends on God.
So when a door is opened to you or when an opportunity to excel and be accomplished comes your way, and in the process of trying to utilize the opportunity, you become more dependent on God, you see yourself only trusting God for direction and for every move you intend to make, it is one of the signs an open door is from God.
God is in the business of making us be like Christ, so every door He will open for us to excel must also lead us to go on that path.
3. It Becomes A Blessing To Others
Let me start by saying that any opportunity that comes your way or any form of an open door in your life that does not directly and positively impact the lives of people around you is not from God.
As a Christian, all your dealings and walk with God are personal, but every form of blessing you will ever have is not for you alone. You are nothing but a steward, a caretaker to these blessings and open doors, and God blesses us to be a blessing to others.
So when an opportunity given to you by God becomes a blessing to others around you, it is also one of the signs an open door is from God. God is passing through you to reach out to others. This must not be about material blessings.
Most times, it might be a spiritual gift that you have, and God has given you an opportunity to use your spiritual gift to become a blessing to others.
4. When It Brings Peace Within
When an open door or an opportunity from God comes your way, it will not cause any distress or trouble in your spirit.
On the contrary, though the open door or opportunity might not even look lucrative, there will be this conviction deep down within your soul and energy to keep pushing.
This is because your entire being accepts it, and the spirit of God in you is not troubling you to let it go. It is rather encouraging you to keep pushing.
Remember, inner peace comes from having enough knowledge that boosts and strengthens one to remain calm in the face of distress.
In this case, because the open door is from God, the knowledge of God you have will boost your strength and confidence to remain calm and keep pushing even when the open door or opportunity doesn’t look lucrative or achievable.
5. When It Happens Without So Much Struggle
Ecclesiastes 9: 11 (NIV) I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned, but time and chance happen to them all.
God rules in the affairs of men, He is 100% involved in every sphere, so when He wants to accomplish anything in your life, He knows when and what door to open; he knows what opportunity to bring your way, and you will sometimes get it without so much struggle.
According to the wise man’s statement in Ecclesiastes 9: 11, it is not by our strength or intelligence, brilliance that we achieve anything we achieve, or that we can become accomplished, but rather it is God that controls time and events who place us on a particular place in a specific time.
So when an open door or opportunity comes your way without you struggling for it, it is part of the signs an open door is from God.
6. An Unexpected Opportunity
An unexpected opportunity is an opportunity you didn’t plan for or even have in mind that such a thing can be possible. Sometimes you are not even qualified for it. But, as a believer, when you see an unexpected opportunity, most times, they are part of the signs an open door is from God.
God works in mysterious ways, so we cannot truly and fully fathom how He does His things. He does not need anybody’s approval or permission to do anything. He does it whatever He wants, whenever and however it pleases Him.
So when an unexpected opportunity comes your way, most times, these are things God has already predestined and pre-ordained to happen, all for kingdom advancement and conforming you to the image of Christ.
7. When It Is An Answered Prayer
God always listens to every one of us whenever we pray. He takes delight in hearing and answering our prayers, so whenever we cry and call upon the Lord for help, we should rest assured that He listens to us.
Remember, God promised that if you pray in His will and ask anything in His name, He will answer you. Nothing is impossible for God to do, and He works in mysterious ways. So some of the signs an open door is from God comes as an answered prayer.
If you have been praying earnestly, hoping and trusting God for a breakthrough or an open door for a specific need. Note that God no longer rains manna down from Heaven in this era. God will instead bring to your way opportunities that become an answered prayer.
8. When It Is A Shift In Your Life
What God wants to accomplish in the life of every believer is that we are transformed into the likeness and image of Christ. But unfortunately, Christ’s personality overwhelms us to the extent that we become lost in Christ.
Because God wants to accomplish this in our lives, some of the doors He will open in your life and opportunities He will bring your way will cause a shift in your life. These open doors and opportunities will be like a vehicle taking you to where God wants you to be.
9. When It Glorifies God
The Almighty God is self-centered. He does not do anything that will not glorify Himself. He is so jealous when it comes to His glory. Therefore, he said in His word that His credit would not be given to another (Isaiah 42: 8).
So when God does anything, that is when He opens any door in your life, or when He brings an opportunity your way, it is not mainly because He has seen how much you have been crying and longing for it, no.
But rather, it is because of His namesake, because of Him being glorified. Isaiah 48: 11 (NIV) “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”
God will not open a door or give you an opportunity that will not glorify Him, so when an open door glorifies God, it is one of the signs an open door is from God.
What Does An Open Door Mean Spiritually?
Spiritually an open door means a new beginning, Acts 14: 27 (NIV) says, “On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.”
Initially, they thought Christ the messiah only came for the Jews, but God opened the door of faith for the Gentiles in that they now accepted the Gospel of salvation. This shows us that a new era has just begun.
Spiritually, this indicates that an open door means a new beginning. The story in Acts 14: 27 shows that an open door spiritually also implies something that is not expected.
Nobody ever expected the Gentiles to be incorporated into becoming heirs of the promise, and it was all about the Jews. God opened the door of faith to the Jews, something no Human ever expected.
An open door spiritually also means being presented with an opportunity to accomplish something or be part of something great. In 1 Corinthian 16: 9 (NIV), “because a great door for effective work has opened to me…” In this text, we see Paul described an opportunity he had to share the Gospel as an open door.
Then in Matthew 25: 10 (NIV), “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.”
This talks about a shut door, which is the opposite of an open one. It implies that an open door spiritual also means having an opportunity to be part of something great.
In the Old Testament, an open door spiritually means God’s blessings, encompassing God’s care and provision. Psalm 78: 23 – 24 (NIV) “Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; He rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.”
So many scriptures talk about open doors, and critically analyzing them can help us understand what an open door means spiritually. But we decided to use these few that hit the main crucial points.
What Happens When God Opens Doors?
What happens when God opens doors is that it is always geared towards us being accomplished in Christ. By this, I mean the focus of every door God will open is to help us become like Christ.
You begin to have different unexpected opportunities beyond your explanation and effort. These opportunities are sometimes answers to different prayers you have been praying for years.
God will then open a door of opportunity that comes your way and answers all of the prayers you have been praying for years. But the answers to these prayers are always geared towards the same purpose, to conform you to the image of Christ.
Another thing that happens when God opens a door is that sometimes the opened door allows us to put our faith into action. It stretches it and expands its elastic limit, which helps to strengthen our faith.
It is like a spiritual dumbbell to exercise our faith and our spiritual muscles so that we’ll grow and become like Christ, which is what God wants to accomplish in our lives.
A whole lot happens when God opens a door, but the one thing I can assure you of is that it is always focused and aimed at building us up spiritually to conform to the image and likeness of Christ.
Conclusion
There are so many signs an open door is from God, and we cannot list it all because God is not stereotyped to one pattern and way of doing things.
But the signs listed here, when understood and considered, can give you the answer to what it means when God opens a door and a clearer picture of what to look out for to understand the signs an open door is from God.
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