Closed Doors and Open Windows

“Please open a door God. I don’t want to climb through a window!” Many of us like to take the easiest route in life. The less effort, embarrassment, and trials we have to face the better right? I’m sorry but the moment we accepted Christ into our hearts and chose to walk the narrow road with Him our life of ‘shortcuts’ flew out the window. I have heard many people say that they were told once they accepted Christ their life would no longer be hard. That a life following Christ would be easy. Lies. Followers of Christ will go through the toughest struggles and persecutions we could have ever imagined. In John 15:18-21 Jesus says that we will be hated and persecuted by the world because we love Him. Why? Because we will be doing great things in HIS name. Satan will use anything, or anyone, he can to stop us or discourage us from doing what God has called us to do. We have amazing powers and abilities that God has given us. The ability to heal people from any sickness in His name. The ability to move mountains, call out demons, restore eyesight and many more, are in our grasp. Hard to believe? John 14:12-14 says “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will also do; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” So if this is true then why are we not seeing many miracles and healings happening in our world today? Because Satan has wrapped us up in chains.Chains of fear and disbelief that keep us bound, and therefore unable to do the mighty works we were given. That’s sad. Imagine you were given the power to fly but you never used it. How stupid is that?! Yet we were given the power to heal people and we never use it. We were given the power to make the blind see and we never use it. We were given the power to raise the dead, we never use it. We were given the power to share the gift of eternal life and save people from a life of eternal torment, yet we never use it. That’s like receiving a gift and returning it without opening it! Why?! Why do we do that? We are afraid that people will judge us, think we are weird, boring, judgmental, hypocritical, don’t know how to have fun, the list goes on. Other reasons are because we don’t want to take the hard route. We want God to make it easy and open the door for us when He has already prepared a window for us to crawl through. Just because we prayed for something doesn’t mean that God’s going to give it to us just because we did. Prayer without action is useless. Stop using God like a genie and get out there and live your life the way God wants you to. Back your prayers with action, show Him that you are willing to follow Him through everything. The good and the bad. Your Christian life is not going to be easy, in fact, at times, it’s going to scare you to death. Your going to get knocked down, trampled on, bullied and discouraged but what makes crawling through that window worth while is the fact that God will be right there with you, leading you to an open door.