Daily Devotional for Friday October 31, 2008
When God Allows Doors to Shut in Your Life
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-14)
When God allows doors to shut in your life. With the economic problems over the past year, we are dealing daily with more and more people who have lost their job and those who are dealing with great financial hardships. We always receive emails for prayer every day from people who need employment, people who need financial needs met. However, what we are dealing with in increasing numbers are people who have lost their job after 5, 10, 20, even 30 years of employment. We are also dealing with people who up until recently have never dealt with economic problems in their own home.
Many of these people we are dealing with each day had their own businesses that had been successful for many years. However, due to the economic problems our nation is currently dealing with, they have had to close their business, or have been operating at a loss for many months now with no idea how they will be able to hold on much longer. Many of these business owners are dealing with the frustration of having to let their employees go, feeling as if they have let them down. If this is not you today, it may be you tomorrow, so please let God speak to your heart through these words today.
Today, I have a very practical word for you, especially those who are out of work, those who are struggling financially, those who are business owners and have either had to shut down or are just barely hanging on. First of all, never forget that the Lord loves you and He knows your pain and He knows your needs. He is with you each step of the way, even though you may feel like He has abandoned you in your darkest hour. That is a lie from the pits of hell. Jesus promised to never leave you nor forsake you. He will see you through these difficult days.
Life is made up of seasons. The older you get, the easier it is to look back on your life and see those clearly defined seasons. You can see them begin and end. Nothing happens in our life that God doesn't allow to happen. That is often hard to swallow, especially when we are facing hard times. It is interesting that very few people question why God allows the good things to happen to us along our journey through this life, but will always question God when we are faced with difficult circumstances.
Obvsiouly, every person's situation and circumstances is unique. However, let me give you some counsel today that may help you, espcially if you are out of work, if you are dealing with economic hardships, if you have a business that has closed or is just barely getting by. We get comfortable with our life. We get comfortable with our job. We get comfortable in making the money we need to live. We get comfortable with how our life operates. We get used to the way we live. When something changes, we lose that comfort level. Most people don't like change.
So when we lose our job, or when we can't pay our bills, or when our business is failing, it turns our life upside down. People instinctively seek the Lord in prayer for their job, for their finances, for their business. That is natural. They pray for God to basically put things back the way they were. This is really critical, so please don't miss this. When we are faced with major changes in our life, we pray and seek the Lord to fix the problem and want things to be the way they were because nobody really likes change. People pray and try to hang on to things as they used to be.
I want you to know today that often things happen in our life because God is allowing one season to end and a new season to begin. Never forget, He loves you and cares about you. He loves to bless His children and only wants the best for you. He often is allowing one season to end and a new season to begin so He can bless you more than you have ever known. Sadly, most people would rather keep things the way they are since that is what they are comfortable with, when God is trying to change things so He can bless you in a greater way!
When we lose our job, when we are having financial difficulties, when we have a failing business, most people need outside counsel. It is their life and because they are so invested in things the way they are, they can't see anything else. Often it takes an outside pair of eyes from someone who knows the Lord to give you wise counsel and to help you see other paths that you may not be even thinking about. We are so focused on how we want things done and how we want God to move, we often don't even see or consider other paths. Having wise counsel from the outside can often help us see that there are options we never even considered, ways to get things done we simply haven't thought of.
In many cases, it is as simple as God closing the door on a season in your life in order to move you into a new and better season. He may allow you to lose your job so He can give you a better job. He may allow you to suffer financial hardships to help you reorganize the financial side of your life so that you can move forward and as He blesses you, make you a better and wiser steward of what He entrust into your care. He may allow a business it fail so that you can start an even better business or possibly so that God can move you in a totally new direction that in the past was impossible because of your commitment to your business.
I love you and care about you so much. Every day we see people out of work get new jobs. Often they are in different fields. Sometimes they are not as good as their old job in the beginning, but as time goes on, they may offer great opportunities and blessings. Daily we see people struggling financially. God gives them favor and wisdom to make it through their struggles, and as time goes on, they are blessed and become wise stewards over their finances. I am dealing daily with business people who lost one business, but started a better one. I am also dealing with business people who God has moved into other endeavors, some into full time ministry.
What I want you to understand today is that no matter what your situation may be, what your struggle may be, God is there with you every step of the way and is guiding you. He will often allows doors to close so that He can open new and better doors. So my word for you is to fear not, and while change is never comfortable, embrace it. Be excited by it. Life is exciting. It is also very brief. You should experience as much of life as you can, and new challenges, new opportunities, only makes your life that much more complete.
Please know that I will be praying for you today. I will be praying for those who need jobs, for those who have financial needs met, for those business owners to be blessed with new business. I will also be praying for those who are in these situations to seek wise counsel and to be open that God may be closing some doors in your life to open new and better ones. Also, be praying, since God may be allowing things to happen in your life to give you the opportunity to answer His call to full-time service.
As these last days unfold, now more than ever we need men and women who love the Lord to serve Him. God may be allowing things to happen in your life so that you can serve Him full time. Know that as you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, He will insure that your day to day needs are met. Open your heart to the Lord, to HIS will, to HIS plan, to what HE may want to do with your life. As you do, God will not only meet your every need, but bless you above and beyond all you could ever ask or think. He may not allow your life to be "comfortable," but I assure you He will always meet your needs and make your life exciting!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller