“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens…”  Revelation 3:7

To us, with our limited vision of the big picture, those precious open doors seem so much more exciting than the times when opportunity, rather than knocking is lacking. We can be tempted to try to pry open those doors with our own cleverness. Yet, we have a precious picture of the Lord’s grace from the Apostle, Paul. He tells us of friends who so wanted to help him, and yet, though their hearts were loving and they desired to have a part in blessing him, they were prevented from doing so. We don’t know what circumstances got in their way, but we know they, for a time, were not able to help Paul:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Philippians 4:10

We surely don’t know everything the Lord may be doing when He keeps us from participating in a work that honors Him, but Paul shows us something he learned through the circumstances, both sparse and bountiful, through which the Lord brought him:

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13

I can imagine how the Philippians rejoiced, as I would have, when they were finally able to bless Paul with their gift. Yet, we see that God was blessing Paul even when they had no opportunity to share with him, even though they desired to do so! Paul was learning about contentment and that even opportunities and their timing are governed by the Lord. Though it comes so much more naturally for me to be thankful for the opportunity to bless, the Bible reminds me that the same God is at work when that opportunity that seems so right to me stands afar off. However, there is one more precious truth that encourages my heart when God does not make a particular opportunity available to us, even when it “seems so right” to me. I think of King David and his desire to be the builder of the temple, surely a noble cause and one we would think the Lord would grant! Yet, he was not permitted to do so, but we learn this about the Lord’s heart toward David, even as He denied his request:

 ….but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’ 2 Chronicles 6:6-9

How wonderful it is to know that when our hands are not permitted to provide in areas where hearts are tender, the Lord takes note and is pleased! He counts our desires, even unfulfilled ones, to be good things. Lord, please continue to open opportunities for serving you, using our gifts, time, treasure and strength. Yet, when opportunities stand aloof, remind us that you are at work in those times too and that we have Your smile when we desire to do a good thing.

Sometimes, we who love Jesus and are learning to walk like Him, find ourselves slightly “off course” too. I am not here thinking of the serious times when someone walks far from the Lord, but rather the every-day times when we veer off in our attitudes or actions. The Bible pictures our relationships at such times as we help one another:

Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:1

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13

Isn’t the Lord gracious to have given us His Word to use to “take the hands of one another” and gently help each other by sharing His truths! How it can help us stay on course to hear a promise, or a command spoken in a loving and timely way:

Like apples of gold in settings of silver, Is a word spoken in right circumstances. Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, Is a wise reprover to a listening ear. Proverbs 25:11-12

Lord, thank You for Your people and Your Word!

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10

The religious leadership who lived at the same time Jesus was on earth pictured God as standing far off from sinners. Certainly they would have not have conceived of God as One Who would seek out sinners or that He would be joyful  at their conversion! The truth Jesus pictures is so different! His three illustrations in Luke 15 portray the tenderness of God’s heart, as He seeks for those who are lost and receives them with grace and even a party with the angels celebrating! Another time, Jesus portrays the love He has for even those who rejected Him.  When they did not want Him as their King and had even attributed His miraculous acts to the Evil One, Matthew 12:24, He demonstrated God’s heart toward them, through His tears: 

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:41-44 

We truly have wonderful truth to show and tell about the Lord!  Maybe the anger and resistance we experience is due, at least in part, to the fact that those around us have a skewed picture of the Lord we love.  By God’s help, empowered by His Spirit, may we show those around us a bit more of what He truly looks like!