Learning To Walk Through Open Doors

Have you ever heard the phrase, "When God closes a door, look for a window?"

My experience has been "When God closes a door, look for another door.” It's always been hard for me to wait for the open door, but I've developed patience in the process. Besides, it's too difficult to go through a window.

A door is symbolic of a transition or passage from one place to another. There are visible and invisible doors. We walk through many visible doors in a day and freely enter where we know we have access. However, we are not meant to open some doors. We would never open the door to a private home, closed office, or locked restaurant.

Then there are the invisible doors:

• Door of hope
• The door of my lips
• Door of prayer
• The door of my heart
• Door of Heaven
• The door of the House of God
• And many more.

These doors can be more challenging to discern making it harder to know whether or not to open them. Behind these, you could experience a dream come true.

Throughout my life, I've gone through many invisible doors that took me to places and experiences that have changed my life. When I finished my time in a particular place, I closed the invisible door behind me and began looking for the next open door.

Some doors that we open take us to pain and misery while others move us towards pleasure and prosperity.

Some doors I wish I would never have opened. It was as if I forced my way through a closed door rather than waiting for the open door. It was always a disaster. Many invisible doors have taken me to my next assignment. Some bigger than others and most times to a task I wasn't sure I could tackle.

I've had two very distinct times in my life when I walked through a door into something more incredible than I could have imagined. The first door led to Auntie Anne's. I had no idea what was behind the door!

It led me around the world (literally) into a fast-paced life, focused on constant growth, making decisions every day about our company and pursuing opportunities all around the globe. I faced constant challenges and decisions that were over my head. I was afraid I didn't have what it takes to keep the company going in the right direction.

I knew I had walked through an open door, but still, the fear paralyzed me.

On one particular day as I was driving to one of our stores for a challenging meeting, a thought popped into my mind out of nowhere.

"Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one can shut."

I grew up knowing stories and verses from the Bible, and I knew the line was from somewhere in there. I searched quickly and on the fly to find this passage because who has time to do a Bible word search in the middle of great success? (We didn’t have the Bible App back then.)

With the help of a pastor, I finally found it. It reads, "This message is sent to you by the one who is holy and true. He has the key to open the door that no one can shut and shut what no one can open. I know you well. You aren't strong, but you have tried to obey, and you have not denied my name. So I have opened a door to you that no one can shut."

It was a wow moment! Only God knew how weak and inadequate I felt as I started, developed and grew this fledging little pretzel company. He knew how scared I was! He knew how I had tried through the years to be true to what I knew to be right and good!

Only God knew how I had failed the test in the darkest moments of my life. Here I was driving down the road, going to my next meeting wondering how to handle the decision in front of me and He gave me this verse.

The second memory is a visual about an open door. I envisioned a door that I walked up to very carefully, turned the knob and cracked it open and peeked in. As I did, I saw the other side of the door was a very spacious, light-filled room as far as I could see.

I was overcome with emotion realizing I have NOTHING to fear.

I knew at that moment wherever I go God has already been there and cleared the way for me. The message to me was, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid.” The moment was life-changing. My fear melted into peace and faith came alive.

Faith to believe God is in fact with me.
Faith to believe the door is wide open and no one will be able to keep the miracle of Auntie Anne's from moving forward.
Faith to believe I can do this to the best of my ability.
Faith to believe I am qualified.
Faith to know all the competition in the world could not stop us.

Open doors can take you to a world you know nothing about which was true for me. Behind closed doors, many mysteries and unknowns will never be discovered unless we go through them. We may not be comfortable as we open the door and enter a new room, but the possibilities are endless.

Remember, doors symbolize a transition or a passage from one place to another. Would you like to transition to a new place emotionally, spiritually or professionally?

Be looking for visible or invisible doors. And then, walk through them.

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