03 Oct Faith that Opens Doors
“Jimmy do you see this door?”
My dad’s lectures often involved abstract concepts, and I could tell that this conversation would be no different.
“Yes, dad. I see the door,” I responded with a bit of attitude.
“Good. Watch how easy it opens and closes.”
He demonstrated it by swinging the door open and closed several times.
“Life’s like this door, son,” he said as he began to make sense of the lesson for me. “It hinges on things that can either cause your life to work or not to work.”
This lecture came after I had been late to work three days in a row, so Dad was concerned about my discipline.
I’m sure I just responded with a simple “Okay, Dad. Got it,” but that little object lesson has stuck with me since. I’ve taught it to my kids, and I even had a door put onstage in my last series to help me teach my congregation!
It really is true— life hinges on doing certain things well. One of those hinges is faith. God’s doors of blessing will swing wide open when we live with the faith of those who obey.
Let’s talk about how to do that.
The first key is realizing that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And not just ordinary. He even uses people with broken pasts to change the futures of others.
Just think about Moses. He was a murderer, and God used him to deliver His people out of slavery. David committed adultery and murder, and he was the greatest king Israel ever had. Peter denied his Savior three times and was used as the rock upon which Jesus built His very first church.
In order for the door of blessing to open in our lives, we must have faith that God will add His extra to our ordinary.
The second key is recognizing that God often calls us out of our comfort zone. Not everything that He calls us to is going to be easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not right.
I believe that’s why time and time again, after God commanded one of His children to do something in the Bible, we read the words, “Do not be afraid.” He knew He was calling them to step out of their comfort zone. But until we are willing to risk it all for the sake of Christ, we’ll never really live.
Next, God calls us to go beyond belief and into action. True faith does things; it doesn’t just talk about them. As James 2:17 says, “…faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”
Finally, God leads us into success that we don’t have the strength to produce on our own. When we get that down, trusting in Him over ourselves, we allow the faith-hinge to work freely in our lives. God has so much in store for us that we can’t even imagine it. Let’s do our part and watch it become reality!