Closed Doors and Open Doors

If the Lord Permits

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Years after the call to Macedonia, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth. Near the end, he told the believers about his travel plans.

Real plans. “Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia)” (1 Corinthians 16:5). Paul thought ahead. He knew which way he hoped to go.

Maybe longer. “And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you” (16:6). Paul hoped to stay with his friends for a while.

If the Lord permits. “But I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits” (16:7). Permits means allows. Paul made his plans, but he left the final word to the Lord.

He had seen it before. In Acts 16, “the Spirit did not permit them” to go into Bithynia (Acts 16:7). God had said no to a good plan, and then He showed Paul a better way.

Planning is good. God does not want us to be lazy or careless. Paul planned his trips with care. But he did not hold his plans so tightly that God could not change them.

God willing. Paul talked this way more than once. Earlier, when some listeners asked him to stay longer, he left, saying, “I will return again to you, God willing” (Acts 18:21). He made a real promise, and he put it in God’s hands.

Not knowing everything. Saying God willing does not mean our choices do not matter. It means we trust God with the parts we cannot see yet.

When God says no. A closed door is not God being unkind. A loving father sometimes says no because he sees what his child cannot see.

Our own way. Deep down, we all want our own way more than God’s way. The Bible calls that sin, and it separates us from God.

Jesus did God’s will. Jesus always did what pleased His Father. He went to the cross and “died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” and “He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Our way and His way. “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). When we trust Jesus, God forgives us and leads us as His children.

Plans in His hands. Because God loves His children, we can make plans and still say, if the Lord permits. He will open the right doors at the right time.

What to do. Think of one plan you have this week. Pray about it, and tell God you trust Him to change it if He knows a better way.

Some years after Acts 16, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth from Ephesus. At the end of the letter he laid out his plans.

A route (16:5). “Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia).” Macedonia, the land of the vision, was now on his regular route.

A hope (16:6). “And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go.” Even his hopes were written with room for change: it may be, wherever I go.

Epitrepo (16:7). “For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.” Permits is epitrepo (say: ep-ee-TREP-oh), to allow or give leave. Paul treated every plan as needing the Lord’s permission.

Learned on the road. In Acts 16:6-7 the Spirit forbade Asia and “did not permit them” to enter Bithynia. Paul knew from experience that the Lord is free to say no.

Planning and trusting. Paul was not vague or passive. He made concrete plans, then submitted them. Wisdom plans carefully; faith holds the plan open to God.

God willing (Acts 18:21). This was Paul’s habit. Earlier, when listeners asked him to stay longer, he left with the words, “I will return again to you, God willing.” A firm plan and a humble condition stood in the same sentence. We cannot see the whole map, but He can.

The heart of sin. At root, sin is insisting on our own way against God’s. Left to ourselves, we would never say if the Lord permits.

The obedient Son. Christ did the Father’s will to the end. He went to the cross and “died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” and “He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). “We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Grace first. We do not earn God’s guidance by surrendering well. We are forgiven through faith in Jesus, and then we learn, as His children, to place our plans in His hands.

Application. Write down one plan for this month. Pray over it honestly, and ask the Lord to close it if it is not His way, and to open the door He has chosen.

A Great and Effective Door

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In the same letter to Corinth, Paul told the believers why he would not come right away. God had opened a door where he was.

Staying a while. “But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost” (1 Corinthians 16:8). Tarry means stay. Paul was in the city of Ephesus, and he planned to stay for a while.

An open door. “For a great and effective door has opened to me” (16:9). A door here means a chance to tell people about Jesus. Many people were ready to listen.

Great and effective. Great means big. Effective means it was working. People were hearing the gospel and trusting Jesus.

Many adversaries. Paul went on, “and there are many adversaries” (16:9). Adversaries are people who work against you. An open door does not always mean an easy road.

Back in Troas. In another letter Paul wrote, “when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord” (2 Corinthians 2:12). Troas is the same city where Paul saw the vision in Acts 16.

By the Lord. Paul did not open that door himself. It “was opened to me by the Lord.” God is the One who opens doors and closes them.

A heavy heart. “I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia” (2:13). Paul had no rest because he could not find Titus.

Going on. Paul left Troas and went on to Macedonia. God keeps leading His people, even when their hearts are heavy.

The door we need most. Our sin shuts us out from God. We cannot open the way back by ourselves.

Jesus opened the way. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus died on the cross, and God raised Him from the dead.

For whoever. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Open doors today. God still opens doors: a friend asks about church, a neighbor is lonely, a classmate is sad. These are chances to show and tell God’s love.

What to do. Ask God this week to open a door for you to share Jesus. When He does, walk through it with kindness, even if it feels a little hard.

Paul closed his first letter to Corinth by explaining why he was staying where he was.

Until Pentecost (16:8). “But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost.” Paul measured his stay by the calendar of God’s feasts, and he stayed because of what God was doing.

Thyra (16:9). “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” Door is thyra (say: THOO-rah), the ordinary word for a door. Paul uses it for an opening God gives for the gospel.

Great and effective. The door was wide, with many hearers, and it was effective, producing real fruit. The work was not just busy; it was working.

And adversaries. In the same sentence Paul names opposition. Opposition did not mean the door was closed. Sometimes the presence of adversaries shows that something real is happening.

Troas again (2 Corinthians 2:12). “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord.” The city of Acts 16:8-10 became a place of open doors.

By the Lord. It “was opened to me by the Lord.” Paul never forced doors open. He watched for the ones God opened.

No rest (2:13). “I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.” Not finding Titus left Paul with no rest, and he went on toward Macedonia. An open door is an opportunity, not always a command to stay.

The way to God. Sin shuts every person out from God, and no effort can force that door. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He died on the cross, rose again, and opened the way for all who believe.

Whoever believes. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Open and hard. Troas shows that an open door and a heavy heart can come together. Faithfulness does not depend on feeling at rest; it depends on the Lord who opens the way.

Application. Pray for open doors for the gospel in your school, team and family. Expect that an open door may come with some resistance, and walk through it with courage and love.

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