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Have you ever experienced a closed door? Did you wonder what’s behind the door and why it is closed? What did you do?

A Door is an opening to a thing or place. It gives you entrance to that thing or place to walk through and into it and fulfill a desire or a mission. A simple example is a car door; you have to open it to get into your car to drive to a place you intend to go, like a grocery store to purchase groceries. From your groceries, you either stock up on items and or prepare a meal. Similarly, think of your home’s doors and especially the main entrance doors. You and those you grant access to have to walk through it into your home. But you and them can’t except you open the doors.

A door is any means of admittance, access, or gateway. You can open and close a door.

You can open it to give access to yourself or whoever you choose to allow in. You can also close a door to keep intruders out. With the car door example, you have to lock it up when not in use or it’s parked anywhere outside your home to help prevent break in or deny access to some unauthorized person from driving off with it.

Metaphorically, an open door symbolizes a new opportunity, beginning, or new season, while a closed door symbolizes the end of a thing, season, or project. It could be anything or anyone from a relationship, to buying a car or home, even renting a place, a job, business, or that person whom you want to marry or are married to. It could also mean that someone or something is blocking one’s entrance to a profitable or fulfilling business or opportunity.

A Closed Door symbolizes denial of admittance, access, and bars unauthorized entry. It’s restrictive, private, exclusionary, and symbolizes rejection. We’ve all heard of closed door meetings. At work, some job opportunities are also tagged “closed promotional.”

A door can be closed by:

1. you,
2. the enemy, or
3. God.

If You Closed the Door

You can close a door on yourself either because of uncertainty, impatience, immaturity, or ignorance. You can also close a door as a result of a bad or negative attitude or habit such as laziness or procrastination. Once you realize your folly or mistake, repent and simply open it back. How you open it back depend on what the door symbolizes for you. Straight up admitting your ignorance or mistake is key. Sometimes tact is necessary.

When The Enemy Closed the Door

I need to clarify here that we do not go about looking for the enemy, but scripture tells us that “the enemy is busy roaming around looking for whom it may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). May it not be any of us. We’d be naive to think that just because we walk uprightly and love everyone, we’ll get same back. Doing so assures us that the enemy’s attacks will not prevail but … another post for another day. Segue into the topic …

When the enemy closes a door on one, I have realized that many people are unaware. They are however aware that the closure does not make sense. And they give up easily and move on when they should bombard heaven (my alternate way of saying “earnestly pray”). Ask yourself “what’s behind the door and why is it closed?” and pray concerning it. Often the enemy is trying to prevent one from starting on a new season or beginning that’s full of promises. Walking away, giving up out of frustration would mean that the enemy won. Don’t give up easily my friend. Pray. Pray. Pray. When the enemy shuts a door, praying and fasting will often re-open the door.

When God Closes the Door

However, when a door is closed by God, there’s nothing one can do to open it; no knocking, banging, kicking, crying, praying, nor fasting will cause the door to fling or slightly open. This is the main difference that let you know that the closure is of God. You simply submit the closed door to Him. However, many stay put and continue to knock, bang, yell, and kick. I have observed many folks doing the reverse of what they ought to do when the enemy or God closes a door.

Surely there’s a reason when God closes a door. Because He knows the end from the beginning, God already knows that your walking through the door will not be beneficial for you in the long run though it seems good to you momentarily. He also knows that it does not align with the plans He has for you, a knowing that you are oblivious of but will become obvious sooner or later.

So what do you do

When you experience a closed door

1. First pray to identify who closed the door
2. Once identified, follow the actions laid out above; that is, if the closure was by you, repent and open it; if it’s the enemy, pray and if necessary fast to get the door to reopen; if God closed the doir, surrender it to Him and ask Him to reveal what He has for you instead
3. Forget the closed door if you’ve done all that you know to do, Another door (opportunity) will open unto you sooner.

I, like many, have experienced many open and closed doors over the years. Most doors open to us of their own accord despite ourselves. For example, my first job out of college was with a company I really wasn’t “looking for” but was a company that gave me the strong foundation that I needed for my career. At the same time, the company that I desperately wanted to work for rejected me. I prepared hard for the interview but was turned down after the second interview. I have also wept over a few closed doors but in retrospect was glad the doors remained closed despite my insistence and prayers. Unfortunately, yet there are closed doors we might not understand why – those are simply God’s sovereignty.

What, if any, closed door have you experienced? How did you handle it?