A recent occurrence of me asking God to close the door happened just last summer. I was in a job that was causing me a significant amount of stress. I felt like I was losing myself. I was having a tough time letting His light shine in that situation. I prayed and prayed for a release from the job but the release never came. He never told me to stay either. He was perfectly quiet on the subject. He has made it clear in the past when He wanted me to stay in a particular job or situation. His silence was confounding me. So, I prayed that little prayer. "Lord, I'm going to apply for this job, if it is not your will, close the door." I sent off my resume and waited. The answer came quickly. Within one short week, I got the dreaded rejection letter and I was super mad about it. It took me quite a few days to stop being mad about the quick rejection. After all, I had a lot to offer that company and how dare they not even give me a phone interview.
One morning I was driving in to work, taking some quiet time with the Lord. I was crying out to Him, letting Him know how upset I was about not getting the job. He whispered ever so quietly to my spirit, "Didn't I do what you asked me to do?" "I'm sorry...what?!?!? "Didn't you ask me to shut the door if it wasn't what I wanted for you?" "Well, yes, I guess so."
I pondered this concept for the rest of the day. I thought of how often we ask the Lord to do something and then get mad when He does it. I thought of the time that I prayed for God to provide a job for me that didn't require travel and how I'm now frustrated that the job isn't the way I expected Him to answer it. I thought of a time when a friend was struggling with a roommate and had prayed for God to make her leave. At the same time, God had been putting it on our heart to move her in with us. We had no idea that our friend had been praying for this girl to leave, but it sure made her mad when it seemed like we were taking the other side. God had been answering her prayer but she didn't like the way He answered it.
It is amazing what some fresh perspective can do for things. Glennon Doyle Melton calls it putting on your perspectacles. I sit here today facing back surgery and thinking about how happy I am that glad shut the door to a new job. I can't imagine explaining to a company that I'd only been with for a few months that I was going to need 12 weeks off to recover.
Are there things in your life that you have specifically prayed for and then got upset with God when He answered your prayer? Are there unanswered prayers that you were once very frustrated about but looking back, you can see what a blessing it was that God never gave you what you thought you needed?
May we ever be thankful for unanswered prayers and closed doors.
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