God closed the door

I bet we've all prayed at one time or another that if something we were planning or wanting was not His Will, that He would close the door before us and open the door He wanted us to go through. I know I've prayed that many times in the past, have you?

As I was studying this morning, the Lord reminded me that this life of pain that I live now is where He has planted me and that I'm to bloom right here and stop trying to force open doors He has closed. Instead of whining that I can't get out and do things I used to do, I should be making the best use of what I can do. I know that the Lord is in control and that if I'm unable to work, unable to do the things I used to do for fun with my family, am unable to meet new people or even see old friends, etc., that even if I can't figure out what it is, the Lord does in fact have work for me to do right here and now.

The Lord tells us we are to bear fruit for His Kingdom and He will always help and enable us to do just that. Even though the Lord has closed many doors to us, there are other doors that are wide open and those are the doors we must walk through. Our pain and illness can't stop us from praying or reading His Word or applying it to our lives. It can't stop us from loving others. While we may be limited in how we can show that love, our hearts aren't limited. Our pain and illness can't stop us from forgiving others who have hurt us, let us down, betrayed us or spitefully used us. Our pain and illness can't stop us from learning to be content, even in the midst of our pain, and it can't stop us from praising God for giving us the opportunity to deny ourselves and live for Him instead.

I don't know about you, but I've always been pretty stubborn. The easiest way for my mom to get me to do something was to tell me that I couldn't do it. I have learned of course that stubbornness is most often a sin, but also realized that I could use it to help me grow too. We know that being saved doesn't magically give us some kind of immunity to trials, problems and trouble in our lives because the Lord told us that we'd always have these things. What it does give us though is the satisfaction of knowing that when we are going through a hard time, like having to live with pain, that it's going to work for us and not against us. That's a pretty big difference when you think about it! On top of that, we also know that the Lord will be with us every second of every day, to help us, comfort us, encourage us, teach us and guide us. Then when we finally lay down these bodies of pain, He will reward us for every moment we were able to cooperate with the work He was doing in us through that pain. He will reward us for persevering with what we could do, going through the open doors instead of whining over the doors that were closed and He will share His glory with us!

I've come to realize over the years that the Lord has not "afflicted me" but instead has given me a very great privilege! By giving me this life of pain, He's offered me the opportunity to have a closer, deeper, more personal relationship with Him then most people ever will, because they're so busy with this life - just as I would have been had pain not entered the picture. Living with pain has taught me to love and appreciate Him more then I ever would have before and to long for Him and for Heaven, my real home, more then I ever would have before. Think of it...if everything is fine in this life, why would we long for heaven? We wouldn't! Instead, we'd want to be part of this world and we'd want to live here always. God in His mercy has shown us though that His ways are better and Heaven is more fantastic then we can ever begin to imagine!

I used to be a very prideful person. I was very proud of all that I did etc, but the Lord used this pain to humble me and now uses it to keep me humble. I used to rely on myself for everything and now I have to rely on the Lord to get through every day. Praise God! I think we can all probably relate to a lot of this.

But the one thing I have to keep reminding myself of is that with this pain, God has also given us an opportunity to allow Him to display His Power in our lives! (John 9:3) Every moment of every day, we have that opportunity unlike most of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves, give in to the pain, or we can keep on relying on Him and doing those things He's given us to do. Whether it's just reflecting on His Word, praying for others, smiling through our pain, allowing someone else the opportunity to serve God by helping us -being the receiver so someone else can be blessed by being the giver; encouraging others who are going through a hard time or who are living with pain as well, or whatever door He may have opened to us that day. The more I think about it, the more amazed I am at the amazing opportunity the Lord has given me. I used to think I had few choices and now, because of the pain, I see that I'm constantly making choices every moment of every day... choosing to have my life reflect His love or have it reflect this pain.

John 9:3 —“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. *

Romans 5:3–5 —Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; *perseverance, character; and character, hope. *And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. *

Romans 8:17–18 —Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. *I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. *