Are you struggling to know if an open door is from God?
Just because an opportunity presents itself, doesn’t necessarily mean it is heaven sent.
In last week’s blog, I talked about the faith and courage to walk through the door that God is holding open for you. But one of my readers asked how you can tell if God is the one opening the door. It’s a great question and one worth considering.
Sharing from my experience, and principles from God’s Word, here are three ways to tell if that open door really is from God:
1. The Door that God Opens will Never Contradict His Word.
Many Christians see opportunities to make more money as an open door from God, even though the opportunity means a job on Sunday mornings or additional hours that will keep them from regular fellowship or service in their church. Some women have even told me that God opened a door to a new love relationship for them, even though they were already married. God will not put an opportunity in front of you that contradicts what He clearly says in His Word.
We have an excellent way of turning a clear mandate of God’s completely around and justifying it by our circumstances but that is not how God works. If there is a compromise in any way, or we have to bend Scripture to justify our action then it is likely not a door that God is opening for us. I would call anything that contradicts His Word a test or temptation, rather than an open door from God.
2. The Door that God Opens Will be Accompanied by Confirmation.
In Matthew 18:15-16, Jesus laid out instructions for confronting sin among believers saying:
“But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses’.”
I believe the same applies when it comes to God confirming something in His Word. He will often confirm or establish a matter by “two or three witnesses” whether they be verses from the Word of God, advice from a pastor or well-respected person who is grounded in the Word of God, or a circumstance that continues to present itself.
Through prayer, discernment and seeking godly counsel, you should be able to tell if that “open door” (and its confirmations) are truly coming from God.
3. The Door God Opens Will Require You to Depend on Him.
God is not going to give us something that will alienate us from Him or make us believe we no longer need Him. He is a God of relationship, and a God who insists upon being first in our lives. Therefore, if you find yourself saying “I can’t do this unless God goes before me,” or “I can do this, but only with God’s help and leading” I would say, in my personal experience, it’s probably something God is calling you to do.
Hebrews 11:6 says:
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Many times an “open door” from God is one that allows our faith to be stretched and strengthened. That, after all, is God’s objective for us: to grow in faith and Christ-likeness.
Take your opportunity or “open door” to God and ask for His confirmation — through His Word and godly counsel from others — and His peace in the decision and you can have the assurance that you aren’t just choosing a door at random, but you’re carefully walking through the ones He wants you to enter.
Thanks Cindi!
Such a very timely word for me.
May God continue to bless you.
Glad you were encouraged, DeAnna. Have a great week.
Thank you Cindi
Thank You Cindi:)
I needed to hear that. I was very happy with the answer. I really enjoyed your articles. The Lord has blessed you and may he continue blessing you.
Hi Cindi,
Thanks for another great article, such a good question! God’s word is clear and rock solid. I must say I am surprised to hear some women have told you that God opened a door to a new love relationship for them, even though they were already married. So sad to misconstrue God’s word. Anyway, your “three ways to tell” are a wonderful place to start!
Thank you, Chery. I always appreciate your comments.
This was VERY helpful! I will be saving this to look back on when I need a reminder of how I can tell that God is opening a door or if it’s a temptation or test instead. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jessica. I’m so glad it was helpful to you.
Thank you Cindi! You don’t know how timely this is for me to read today! Thank YOU for posting this. It is just what I needed. 🙂 Be praying for me! –Abby
I will be praying for you, Abby. : )
Thank you Cindi, I appreciate it! 🙂
Thank you so much. I’ve been seeking the best way to determine what is truely from God and what is my own will.
You’re welcome, Stephanie. I’m glad you were encouraged.
Thank you so much Cindi! I just had a situation this week that I thought was God only to find out it wasn’t. Thanks for the encouragement.
I’m glad you were discerning about it, Sheryl. Sometimes something looks good to us, initially, so we assume it’s from God. But I’ve found that when we wait for His perfect will, then we have what is BEST, not just something “acceptable.”
Thank u for being a blessing to me; encouraging me. I appreciate u. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for your kind words.
Very reassuring and comforting. Thanks. May God continue to bless your Ministry.
Thank you, Debi. Blessings to you, as well.
please pray for my husband and I, he got a job which requires a move but I need the peace that this is truly from the Lord..thanks so much..
June, I will pray for you. I don’t know anything about your situation, but I do know that when we, as wives, obediently follow our husband’s lead, as a way of following the Lord, God has a way of blessing it.
Thank you for this message. I have been organizing Child Sexual Assault Prevention Workshops in collaboration with my local Police Department since 2011. I have been funding it all on my own. I am now at a point were I am going to turn this work into a non-profit yet it has all been moving slowly. I am trusting in God’s word, praying and hoping He send me someone who can take me under their wing and guide me through the whole process and mentor me. I don’t want to mess it up. Today, I had the privilege of attending a “Women’s in Business” seminar organized and hosted by the City of Commerce and made the one connection I was really looking forward to. I believe God has allowed things to move slowly because He is about to provide the resources to continue to do His work for His glory. When I started this work I started with a blank sheet of paper and a prayer. I can’t do this work without God being in the for front of it. Please pray for me and this work.
Thank you,
Yolanda M. Dunn
Yolanda, clearly God is going before you in all of this. You and this calling of yours will remain in my prayers. Thank you for your faithfulness and your heart to trust Him.
Hi Cindi,
I am thoroughly enjoying your book “When Women Walk Alone”. It has helped me keep something in my life in perspective.
God Bless you!
Yolanda, I’m glad that book is helping you. : ) Thanks for letting me know.
Thank very much for your wonderful teachind on this subject, ON HOW YOU MAY KNOW IF GOD IS THE ONE WHO HAS OPENED THE DOOR. Your three points answer is true reality of the question. I have been inspired very much. Cindi do you have this kind of teaching in your library. I would really appreciate if i may have it. God bless you and add more wisdom to your teachings and answers. Bishop Henry Banda, National Church Overseer, Malawi.
Thank you for your kind words, Bishop Henry. I have free downloadable articles on my website that are similar in nature to this one. All of my articles are based on teachings that are found in my books, and you are welcome to use any of them, just cite the source, according to copyright law. Thank you.
Thank you once again Cindi. You are a fabulous instrument God uses to reach so many women who are seeking guidance. I am questioning if this is a “door God opened” in a situation now because I have been praying for and asking Him for this situation for a long time. I can’t wait to read your new book.
God bless and thank you for all you do!
Thank you, Beth. Good to hear from you. I am praying today that you will have clarity on this situation you have brought before the Lord. The new book, “When a Mom Inspires Her Daughter” will be arriving soon…yours will be shipped out just as soon as they’re in my hands. Thanks for looking forward to it.
With all do respect, I disagree. From my experiences and prayers, God will allow doors to open eventhough there are not His will or orders. But He will use this as ways to glorify His name and to bring us to humiliation, repentence and then lift us up as He promised. That’s is my experience from answered prayers.
Julie, I agree with you that God ALLOWS doors to open that aren’t necessarily His will for us. He is sovereign over EVERYTHING. But He wants us to wait upon Him for His best for us. Sometimes we’ll go through a door and it wasn’t necessarily what He wanted for us but, like you said, He still uses that teach and lead and shape us into who He desires for us to be. (Romans 8:28). Thank you for your comments.
Good Morning Cindi,
I am drawn to comment as I follow your wonderful teaching for August and read the comments. I am inspired to no end how God uses you to touch people all over the world and for wonderful causes. I am grateful to “know” you, you are such a blessing to so many!
Thank you for your sweet, encouraging words this morning, Chery. You are a gift. : )
God Bless Cindi,
Reading your article so blessed and humbled by it.The comment Julie made is a real eye opener. I know that our Soveriegn God wants only the best for us. I beleived God for a husband after 25 years of widowhood, long story short I married a man who said all the right things and words whuch I believed. I have had to repent so many times for not seeing clearly or heearing clearly God’s voice. My marriage has become my greatest test of my faith,But God!!! and His soverirgnty has kept me focused on Him and seeking Him more passionately than ever, Because His grace is carrying a broken heart and big dissapointment on not having the Christain marriage i so desired. Not to say the marriage will not bring God glory, but because of this test of my faith I will see the victory and He will sustain this relationshp and to God be all the glory!. He loves us and wants the best for us always! God is our source and our deliverer, but it would have been much easier had His voice been heard and leading followed….Open doors are not always God’s opportunies but our own desires and self will. I know I am living this out. Praise be to our God who loves us despite our own will. Only one thing left to say. “God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
Many many blessings,
Thank you so much, Juanita, for sharing your story as an encouragement to us to wait for God’s clear direction. Thank you, too, for your determination that God will get the glory no matter what happens in your life. He really can work all things (even our failure to wait for Him)for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). He wants to make each of us more like His Son, and He will use whatever circumstances in our lives that we surrender to Him to do just that. Blessings on you as you surrender to Him daily, my friend. : )
I LIKE WHAT YOU SAID: . The Door God Opens Will Require You to Depend on Him.
God is not going to give us something that will alienate us from Him or make us believe we no longer need Him. He is a God of relationship, and a God who insists upon being first in our lives. Therefore, if you find yourself saying “I can’t do this unless God goes before me,” or “I can do this, but only with God’s help and leading” I would say, in my personal experience, it’s probably something God is calling you to do.
Thank you, Christopher.