Doors Pt. 2
John 10:9 I am the door
In Doors Pt. 1 I literally talked about everyday doors we walk in and out of. Physical doors have a lot to teach us about spiritual doors. The first thing I talked about is "doors are connected." They are connected to frames which are connected to walls. The truth we took from this regarding spiritual doors is that we have to be connected to people. If we want to see God open new doors for us in our Christian walk and ministry, we have to be serious about building relationships with people and investing into these relationships.
So, what is another common characteristic regarding literal, physical doors? Yes, ordinary doors we walk through everyday? "Doors have a handle." If you are going to go into a room, you have to use the handle to open the door. "Doors have handles."
Here is the thought that's on my heart: If God is going to open a new door for you, you have to be able "to handle it." The Lord is going to make sure you are able "to handle" what is behind that door.
New doors are exciting. New opportunities are wonderful. However, there is something else you need to know about new doors and opportunities.
1 Corinthians 16:9 For a great and effective door has opened for me, and there are many adversaries.
Here Paul is telling the Corinthians that God has opened for him a new door of opportunity. He is saying, "The Lord has set before me a great opportunity in ministering the gospel." But then he goes on to add, "And there are many adversaries."
So what does this verse teach us? The bigger the door, the bigger the adversary. The greater the door, the greater the opposition." Higher levels, bigger devils.
So if this is true, what does this mean? God has to prepare our character. He has to make sure our character is ready to walk through that door. He has to be sure our character is able to handle whatever opposition is waiting behind that door. He has to make sure our character can "handle it."
Genesis 41:46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out of the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
In this verse do you see the words, and went throughout all the land of Egypt? This tells us the Pharaoh gave Joseph access to all the land of Egypt. There was nowhere in the entire Egyptian empire that Joseph was not entrusted to. Do you know what this speaks of? The vastness of Joseph's ministry. Joseph had a HUGE ministry.
Now let me make something clear before saying what I am about to say: a HUGE ministry isn't measured by how many people you have sitting in the church pew. It is not measured by how many buildings you have on site. It is not measured by how many programs you are running. There are many ministries that have width, but have no depth. In other words, they have a lot of people, many buildings, and running a lot of programs, but the ministry is spiritually shallow. So when I am talking about a HUGE ministry, whether you have many people or few, you are making a deep impact upon people's lives. I once heard a woman of God say, "You don't have to be well-known to be well-used." So true.
So going back to my point: Joseph had a HUGE ministry. Do you know why God could entrust him with such a vast, broad ministry? God could trust his character. You see, when Joseph was a slave and prisoner in Egypt, God was refining his character and then testing his character. Before the Lord put Joseph over all Egypt, He tested Joseph's character in every way possible.
Point: The width and depth of your ministry depends upon your character. Big ministry can't be entrusted into the hands of little character. So, like Joseph, God is going to refine your character and then test your character because He wants to make sure when He opens to you a new door, you can "handle it."
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