“I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close…” Revelation 3:8a CSB
Wouldn’t it be nice if God would take care of everything for us and we wouldn’t have to work for it? Single and want to be married…the perfect person shows up on your door. Got debt…a check magically appears in your mailbox to cover the exact amount. Conflict in a relationship…the other person suddenly realizes you’re right and you don’t have to do a thing. Need a vacation…you win a trip to Italy. The list could be endless. Want to be a size two…voila, you are. How nice that would be. But that isn’t how God works.
God doesn’t just give us whatever we want. Instead He gives us opportunities to work for it. He gives us vision of what could be and then a way to get there. For instance, according to a scientific study by CNN, a person has to go on roughly 10 first dates before they find someone who is worth a second date. Dave Ramsey says the average time it takes to pay off debt is 18-24 months. Conflict in a relationship is never one-sided, it always takes both parties working together to find resolution. And it’s highly unlikely you’ll win a trip to Italy, but if you put a little bit aside each month, plan the time off, you could definitely make it happen. And wanting to be a size 2, well I put 13 pounds on over the holiday’s and I’ve finally taken them back off…in April.
God gives us opportunities, it’s up to us to take them.
Why doesn’t God just meet all of our needs? Why do we have to struggle? Because we would never grow and learn. First off, what we think we want and what we really need are two different things. The view of marriage from a single person is completely different than the reality that it is. I can speak from personal experience, if God paid off my debt for me and I didn’t have to work my way out of it, I would have never learned how to manage money. And sometimes, the conflict in a relationship is to help you see a blindspot in your life that you need to work on. Saving for a vacation will make you appreciate it more than having it handed to you. And the journey to becoming the “perfect size” helps you learn to love yourself just as you are.
Secondly, and most important, Jesus calls us to follow Him. That means moving forward. That means learning and growing as you journey through life. That means applying His principles to the situations that occur along the way. That means He will open doors for you and it’s up to you to go through them. I pray you are blessed with open doors and the courage to walk through them, that is where the adventure begins.
