Being Ready When the Door Opens
Nehemiah 2:6; Colossians 4:2-6
When I went away to college at seventeen, I was pretty certain I knew what my life would look like. I was going to be a professional soccer goalkeeper and tour as a Christian musician in the off-season.
It seemed perfectly reasonable to seventeen-year-old me.
I had grown up deeply impacted by Christian artists who used music to tell the story of what God had done in their lives, and I wanted to do the same. But then I got to college and realized how unlikely it was that I would get to do that with my life.
I moved from music performance into music education because it seemed like the most natural way to keep doing music. Then I took a conducting class, and a nearby church posted an opening for a choir director.
If everybody showed up, there were about twelve people in the choir, and the lead soprano had a vibrato wider than the Cuyahoga River.
I took the job mostly to make a little money and get some experience while doing something I was passionate about. A few weeks later they asked if I could direct the Christmas cantata. I said yes—as soon as I figured out what a cantata was.
That Christmas Eve, somewhere between directing that little choir and a handbell ensemble filled with wonderfully feisty senior ladies, I was overwhelmed with purpose. I remember sensing God making something clear to me: This is what I created you for. I created you to lead people in worship.
That began years of vocational ministry, which eventually included helping start a church here in Cleveland. I loved that work so much! We were completely sold out to the mission of reaching people and helping people love God, love people, and serve the world.
Then, unexpectedly and painfully, that door closed.
What followed was nine years outside vocational ministry. But they weren’t nine years of God doing nothing. Those years included some of the deepest suffering, healing, growth, family life, ministry, and grace I have ever experienced. God was at work in ways I could see and in ways I could not.
During that time, whenever someone asked if I thought I would return to full-time ministry, my answer every time was, “I’m always open to whatever God has for me.”
Then one night at a CVC Youth winter retreat, Pastor Joe asked, “Any chance you’d want to come talk with us about being the Invite Director?”
A door opened.
Yesterday, as we looked at the verses immediately before today’s passage, we saw what Nehemiah did when the king asked, “What are you requesting?”
He prayed.
That wasn’t the beginning of Nehemiah’s conversation with God. He had already spent months grieving, fasting, praying, and carrying the burden God had placed on his heart.
Then we arrive at verse 6:
“How long will you be gone, and when will you return?”
And Nehemiah has an answer.
He didn’t force the door open. But when God opened it, he was ready.
I love Paul’s encouragement to us on how to be ready for moments like those. In Colossians 4:2–6, he tells us to continue steadfastly in prayer, be watchful in it with thanksgiving, pray that God may open a door for the word, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, make the best use of the time, and let our speech always be gracious so that we know how we ought to answer each person.
What an incredible prayer for an ordinary day.
Keep praying. Stay watchful. Give thanks. Ask God to open doors. Walk wisely. Use the time He gives you well. Let your words be gracious.
You may have no idea what God is preparing you for right now.
Or maybe you feel completely certain about what comes next. I did too at seventeen when I was preparing for my MLS draft and recording contract. I’ve learned to hold certainty with a little humility since then.
We never know what doors—or detours—tomorrow may bring.
And the open door may not look dramatic. It may not involve standing before a king or being offered a new ministry position.
It might be an annoying coworker who suddenly tells you what is really happening in their life.
It might be a family member or friend who calls when you’re already exhausted.
It might simply be someone who gives you an opportunity to point them toward Jesus.
You don’t have to know which door God is going to open in order to become ready to walk through it.
So continue steadfastly in prayer. Stay watchful. Give thanks. Walk wisely. Ask God to open doors.
And trust Him with what comes next.
Question to Consider
What would it look like for you today to continue steadfastly in prayer, stay watchful with thanksgiving, and ask God to open a door for the gospel?
Prayer Prompt
Lord, during this time of prayer and fasting, help me to pray faithfully, watch expectantly, live thankfully, walk wisely, and speak graciously. Open the doors You want opened, and help me recognize them when You do. Draw me close to You and prepare me to be able to respond when You do open those doors.
