Who you are is an outcome of all the experiences you have had in your life, including all the opportunities you took advantage of and those you turned down. Whether we like it or not we are co-creators of our lives, which means we are not simply a blank canvas that some all-powerful God will paint upon, nor do we solely shape our lives, unaffected by Divine influences. It’s a dynamic give and take that pulls and pushes and molds us into who we are.

Who will you be in five years?

One thing’s for certain, you won’t be the same as you are today. Another set of circumstances and choices will have made their mark on your life. Your response, your action or inaction will surely have an impact on who you become. Contrary to what people may think, life is not random. God is behind our lives, opening and closing doors, and ever interested in the decisions we make and the paths we choose to take. Above all else, God is about taking you to that place where you can realize all of your potential.

To reach our potential requires taking risks at times and being cautious at other times. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s not. Knowing when to do what, requires thoughtfulness, prayer and wisdom.

To help us along the way, God give us opportunities – you might call them Divine opportunities. The question is can we seize the moment? The Bible and other sacred texts are full of moments such as when Esther had the courage to go before the King and beg for the lives of the Jewish people.

Esther holds the key

The declaration announcing the imminent death of all Jews could be likened to a terrible, closed door for Ester’s people. Under the guidance of her uncle, Mordecai, she looked for an opening, a crack that would open the door to freedom for her people. It meant she had to risk her life because no-one could have an audience with the King uninvited. He alone, decided life and death – scary! Esther was naturally afraid but her uncle encouraged her saying, “who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Just like Esther, we don’t know what’s on the other side of the door. A door is a powerful metaphor. It can mean many things. It can represent safety – you lock the door. It can be shut and prevent you from entering, perhaps, where you shouldn’t tread. It can also be open and represent a new opportunity. Will it be good, will it be bad? The big question when you have a doorway in front of you is should I walk through the door?  Like Esther, could I do something that matters to God and others?

God is bigger than you think

When we think about greatness, we tend to consider material success, perhaps fame or at the very least a comfortable life. Just like on Shark Tank, we hope that by going through the door of opportunity represented by the show, we will find our dream. It’s not unnatural to have such hopes and aspirations.

Such were the hopes of the people of Israel. They wanted to be a blessed nation, on the path to greatness with a powerful army and a growing economy. Contrary to their hopes, they often found themselves chased out by their enemies. Instead of the door to national greatness, which is what they hoped for, God opened the door to spiritual greatness. He sent his son Jesus to the people of Israel. What Israel failed to understand was that this blessing wasn’t just for them but was for humanity as a whole. They failed to realize the gift God had given them and tossed it aside, unwanted. How did God feel? Now there’s a thought. Sometimes I hear people say, “I don’t know what to pray about.” Maybe pray about that.

God is always five steps ahead, thinking about the greatest good. An open door isn’t necessarily always pleasant and it isn’t usually just for you! We tend to think, “Oh I’ve been blessed therefor I must have been good. I must be better than the next person.”  Not! Maybe you received that blessing to benefit others.

This is one of the reasons why I appreciate the Family Pledge, which is like a spiritual mission statement. It reminds us to “convey Heaven’s blessing to our community…” How? “..by centering on true love.” We need to live with the consciousness that the blessings we receive are to be shared with others.

What doorways have you crossed?

There are many Biblical stories where God asks people to pack up and move. One of the most famous examples is of course Abraham who lived in one of the best cities of his day, Ur. His father had a flourishing idol business. Then, one day, God asked him to pack up and move. He had to pass through the gates of a thriving metropolis and move to the middle of nowhere! It would be like going from mid-town Manhattan to Hart’s Location, NH; population 37.

Would you move? That’s a tough one. It’s easy in theory to do the will of God but challenging in practice. It takes courage and trust. God wanted to be Abraham’s friend. Friends trust each other. And so, Abraham did move and that opened up a whole story that wouldn’t have happened if he’d stayed comfortable in Ur. Ultimately, the world was blessed when Abraham went through the door.

I had a situation once that reminds me of Abraham. While living and nursing in England, I and my friends looked at opportunities in America. The job openings for nurses were tremendous. Move to Texas and you could make a lot of money. I vowed nothing would ever make me move to Texas. It’s hot, humid and full of cowboys and rednecks, or so I thought.

God is all about enlarging our hearts and breaking concepts and so I found myself assigned to Texas. But it was a door God wanted me to walk through because there is a certain heart in Texas God wanted me to encounter. There is a faith in God, which I was sorely lacking at the time, and a culture of warmth and family that is rooted in our original nature. I grew to love Texas, in spite of the heat. I am so grateful I walked through that door. What if I hadn’t?

Trusting God gets you to the other side

Closed door thinking disguises itself as caution, concern about the future or commonsense but often it is a thin excuse not to trust God! It’s true; some doorways are really hard to go through. Think of the rich man in Luke 18:18-25 who asked Jesus how he might find eternal life.

^1”A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Closed door thinking prioritizes hoarding over generosity, silence over speaking out and holding onto grudges and resentments over love. Just like the rich man, God occasionally challenges us too.

Closed door thinking looks safe but is the most dangerous thinking of all because it leaves God on the other side of the door, alone, waiting for you. God doesn’t tell you to go because you are ready to go, but because He is with you. He is ready to walk beside you and be a part of your journey. Over the next few weeks at Faith Fusion we will be looking at characteristics of open door people.

Thinking one or two steps ahead

God opens doors that are not always obvious. In order to know when to go through we have to trust God and think deeply. Rev. Moon spoke on this saying:

  “What would result from you doing this? How much effect would this have on the world? If Adam and Eve had endured, would they have fallen? If they had thought one or two steps ahead, would they have yielded to the fall? If Eve had had second thoughts, she would never have tried to tempt Adam into falling as well. She would have contained it within herself and never passed it to Adam. If they had thought longer and more deeply, they would never have fallen in the first place. 

    We can say that the failure of every providential mission resulted from failing to think deeply. If Noah had persevered in his vigilance a little longer, instead of becoming intoxicated and lying naked, his mission would not have been invaded. We can definitely say his mission would have succeeded if he had continued and thought a little more. Why would Abraham have cut all of his offering in half except the two birds? If he had only thought a little more about what he was doing and whether it was right, then he would not have been negligent and brought failure. If John the Baptist had only persevered and thought a little more about Jesus and about all the revelations he received, he would have acted differently. 

Moses struck the rock at Horeb twice, but if he had endured a little more and thought once more then he wouldn’t have acted impetuously and he could have fulfilled his mission himself.”

I know that the mistakes that I have made in my life have often happened because I acted too quickly or impulsively. The choices we make and the doors we choose to go through or not go through have consequences. They take us in this direction or that.  As Rev. Moon says, we have to contemplate and pray so that we can end up in the right place.

Prayer has to become part of the rhythm of our lives.  Prayer creates a storehouse in our heart from which we draw strength, power and the wisdom to act. That doesn’t mean that you have to stop everything or go to a special place.

Pray wherever you are

 “Prayer is your heart’s storehouse. If you do not have time, you should at least pray while doing your work. You should pray even while doing your laundry or walking down the road. You should constantly fill up your storehouse; it should never be empty.” – Rev. Moon

We need that storehouse so we can feel the reality of God’s love and forgiveness in our lives and know that whatever mistakes or wrong doors we have walked through in the past we can begin again.

“God has already forgiven us our sins. Do you think it would be possible for God to forgive us if He still thought we were sinners? He forgives us because He looks at us with endless compassion. You should know that through forgiveness, all can be united as one.” – Rev. Moon

Forgiveness opens the door for us to be united with God and with each other. This promise is as timeless as it is real. Jeremiah 31:3-4 (NASB) reminds us that God isn’t in the habit of giving up:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.
Again, I will build you and you will be rebuilt.”

These words, “I will build you and you will be rebuilt” are powerful. They are a promise when you face difficulty. God is always looking to give you a way out and a way up. That promise wasn’t just for Esther and her people but for you and your family; your people.

I was moved by Chris’ story of his life in a refugee camp for nine years. That is a long time. Perhaps, it’s half your lifetime or a quarter of your lifetime. Think about that, but God gave him an open door.

Not only that, but once he had walked through the door, he thought about all the children living in refugee camps and in poverty around the world and knew they too needed a way out. He began to work with the organization “Right to Play” which understands that children grow and discover freedom through the doorway of imagination and play. He wrote a beautiful song that is dedicated to Right to Play.