When All Doors are Closed

What do you do when all doors are closed?

All I wanted at that point in my life was to start a family.

Four years since that day of blessed vows and the time seemed right…as the weeks and months roll by, melding to a year, and the heart aches…as the loss of a little one passes, then another, the heart breaks…and the doors are nothing but solidly, solemnly, closed.

Read the full story here.

How little I knew back then, how little I still comprehend…

that when the Creator of Grand Universe pens the glorious plan of your life, the story well hidden from your own eyes, the miracle is that the magnificent is not in what we thought or how we planned or what we hoped.

The marvel is in His thoughts, His plans, His desires…and they are ALL for your good.

As painful as it may be, it is a mercy to us when doors close.

Think back on your life. Think back to the time of deep disappointment…the heart wrapping around a sole desire, so pertinent and passionate in it’s intent and pursuit. That one thing was yearned after with such force, it felt like you could not live without it.

Recall the instant the bubble burst, one moment silvery rainbow glistening it’s luminescent palette before your eyes, the next, a dream popped and instantly gone, nothing but thin film of soapy residue grazing your fingertips.

Those disappearing acts are painful, and not at all as simple as blowing bubbles in the summer sun. The heart follows the glimmer of a thousand swirls and erupts right along with it.

So what do we do?

We can turn from this – we can walk away.

We can throw in the towel, give up, flood our bed with tears and our hearts with anger.

We don’t see the whole picture – and the mercy falls.

OR we can bear forward, pressing on to wait in the difficult place with all endurance, believing and trusting all will be okay.

Just how do we do that?

Where do we turn when we’ve hoped for more, only to be crushed?

There are practical steps and things we can focus on to still water our souls in a land that seems dry and dusty. Here are nine things to turn your gaze upon in this barren land…

What to do When All Doors are Closed

1. Wait

In the waiting, is the breaking. The heart rends as it rests, torn asunder by the silence and the unknown. But in the quiet (ps 46:10) –

Be still and know that I am God.

We can rest.

When we learn to still ourselves and wait on Him, we prime ourselves for that perfect position to hear Him.

2. Pray

Prayer is the doorway to the heart of the One who carries the world in His palm. Talk to Him. He can breathe the sweetest sentiments of care into your heart, life anew. He can bring the peace that passes understanding.

3. Serve where you’re at

Too many people are waiting for that perfect thing, perfect moment, instead of serving and living right where they’re at.

If the doors have closed…you’re still somewhere. You may feel you’ve been stopped short in your tracks at this unpleasant somewhere, but it’s still a place of life and it’s the Great Designer’s destination for you in the moment.

While you wait, and pray, open your eyes to the simple things surrounding your immediate. Grab those up in your able hands and keep them busy while you wait for new direction.

If the doors have closed…you’re still somewhere.

For some motivation in this, pick up the book Just do Something by Kevin DeYoung – Amazon has it here. Though we still need to remember God can speak to us and guide us specifically, we also need the reminder of the beauty and simplicity in serving where we’re at, in the moment.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I will only ever recommend products I love and truly believe will bring you value.

4. Search

Many times (though not always) a closed door can be an indicator of a heart in the wrong place. Why is he closing the door? Is the reason a mystery or could it be discerned in your case?

I still remember getting the call.

We were a new foster family and we had finally received a call on a little girl. Everything seemed a perfect fit for taking her in…but I hesitated, afraid, unsure of taking the plunge and what it be like in our already busy season. By the time I called back that day to accept, she had already been placed with another family.

My heart broke.

Why had I waited so long?

What was I thinking?

But, in that still small moment after the call, I heard it – so sure the realization, like a voice in my head –

that child wasn’t meant for us.

That phone call wasn’t an invitation to take in a placement – it was a wake-up call. It was a time for me to reflect and make some solid decisions about what we really wanted to pursue – and then, act in that way on a regular basis.

With God’s hand to guide, prayerfully search your heart to see if there might be a whisper of truth He’s speaking to you in your own situation.

5. Give thanks for the good

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, giving thanks in all things…

I could not count the number of times I’ve reminded the kids – and my own troublesome heart – of this precious verse.

When we give thanks –

even in the hardest of places –

we call to mind the whole reason for our existence…

how the joy and freedom purchased by His sacrifice is enveloped in knowing Him, priceless treasure that can never be taken!

We encircle our sorrow with reminders of the numerous gifts we have received, endowments we never deserved in the first place.

6. Take the time to focus on other things

Oh, how precious is the art of distraction in the hold of hurt.

You hoped…

you wanted…

it didn’t come to pass.

In this season of waiting and unknown, turn your gaze to other things – let your heart be delighted by the other surprises this delayed season may actually be affording you.

7. Pursue Him

As the quiet lingers on in the wait, we can take the time to press into the heart of the King.

Do you know, friend, His desire for you?

The all-encompassing heart of Love is not wrapped in our circumstances, material goods, hopes and desires as much as we think.

He uses all those things for a sole purpose of driving our hearts back to the spring of true joy, the only source that brings true contentment – Himself.

Pursue this overflowing well and drink in the

joy
peace
love

that will never run dry. 💕

8. Trust

You hem me in behind and before…the lines fall for me in pleasant places. (ps 139:5, 16:6)

Not every situation in our life feels like a pleasant place.

Yet His hand is in all….

nothing is without purpose, nothing falls to the shoulders of fate.

And He guides us to those pleasant places as He opens and closes doors for us.

And as we, in turn, learn to trust Him in the midst of it.

9. Keep lit the flame of hope

Hope is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

~Emily Dickinson

One of the daring things about hope is how readily it presses on in perseverance. It “never stops at all.” It walks “by faith, and not by sight.”

Gear up your heart to keep hoping…not that the circumstances will suddenly be as you desire, but that you have a Father who is always working for your good and has amazing things in store.

He sees you…

He knows…

He has the plan…

And the doors will not always be closed.

“When one door closes; another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

– Alexander Graham Bell