I have always been fascinated by “the will of God.”

Godly people want to make decisions that please God. None of us wants to be the Balaam (Numbers 22-24) who deliberately goes against what God wants.

Part of Balaam’s problem was not that he directly disobeyed God but that He sought to find a way around God’s will. That may be a problem you face as well.

How can we understand and discern God’s will?

This is a big subject so I want to explore only a small portion of it today.

Let’s look at open and closed doors.

The clearest picture of open and closed doors is found in Acts 6. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke moved through Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) on what we know as the second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-18:22).

Luke, the author, recorded how as they moved through this region they attempted first to go south into Asia but they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). Later, they attempted to turn north toward Bithynia “but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” (Acts 16:7).

God had closed both doors. (Notice that the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus are identified in the passage). This left them only one direction to go. They had come from the east and both north and south were cut off. They then kept moving to the west toward Troas where Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia beseeching them to “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9).

The convergence of open and closed doors and the vision helped them to see God’s plan for the missionary team. Luke tells us they “immediately” sought to go to Macedonia “concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:10).

The results were immediate and astounding. At Philippi, they prayed with the Jewish women on the Sabbath day. Lydia, a worshiper of God, believed and invited the missionary team to her house. She became the first convert in Europe and a supporter of the mission effort. The church in Philippi met in her house.

What God initiates, He blesses.

I urge you to look for the convergence of open and closed doors with the prompting of the Spirit as you attempt to follow God’s word and God’s plan.

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