These barriers have stopped countless people in their tracks over the years. Many more people want to be in a band than actually are in a band. But in this case, I understood that none of these barriers were in the way; the LORD had knocked them all down. And He did that because He was showing me an open door He wanted me to walk through. He had prepared me to walk through the door when it opened, and now it was time. So I entered.
So this is my story of what it looks like when God opens a door for us. When it’s God’s doing you may find, like I did, that all the barriers that would normally be there are knocked down.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another post.
It’s been about a year and a half since I was Born Again. About a year and a half since I left the Catholic church and embraced the True Christian Faith. Since then I’ve been learning much about God, our Faith, Spiritual Warfare, and Christian living. Despite hardships, slow points, and difficulties, this time in my life has been a blessed season of Spiritual education for which I am Grateful. He has been building me up in a meaningful and significant way.
One of the things I often heard when I first began this journey was that God will open doors for us if we follow Him. I had an idea of what that could mean, but I hadn’t actually experienced it. But recently, God opened an unmistakable door in my life, and I realized that and walked through it. I’m enjoying the new opportunity I’ve been blessed with, and look forward to finding out where it leads.
So today I want to describe this experience the LORD blessed me with, and how I knew it was a door that He opened for me. By describing my experience, other people may be able to recognize an open door in their life. That’s my hope anyway. So let’s talk about what an open door looks like.
Nothing in the Way
In a recent post entitled, How to Guitar for God, I wrote about how I got the opportunity to join a Christian band. We are (as of this writing) still practicing so we can sound good when we play live. But even practice is enjoyable because I like playing along with other instruments. And that’s not something I get a chance to do when I play alone at home.
In that other post I wrote about what I had learned about worship music and what makes it special. In today’s post I’ll write about how I got the opportunity to be in this band, because that’s the story of how God opened a door for me.
I played guitar a long time ago in high school and college, but I wasn’t serious about it. After college I put the guitar down and forgot about it while I went off and lived my life in the secular world. I didn’t come back to the guitar until January of this year (2021, for those reading this post later).
When I picked it up again this year,there had been very important changes in my life. On a basic level I now had the adult Self-Discipline and work ethic to be serious about practicing. But the most important change by far was I was now a Born-Again Christian, so following Christ and Glorifying God guide my actions.
Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be. I’ll be honest and tell you that when I picked up the guitar again, I wasn’t thinking about how I could use it to Glorify God. What I was thinking about was finishing my unfinished business before The End of the world. Tying up loose ends and returning to projects that I left half-done. For me, learning to play the guitar for real was the most important of these unfinished projects.
As I continued practicing, seven months later in August I was invited to join a Christian band practicing at another church. It isn’t the music ministry that plays during the service, which I couldn’t join anyway because I have my own church to go to. It’s a Christian band focused on Evangelism and we’re going to perform in public to Evangelize.
It seemed like an almost perfect opportunity when I got the invitation. It was advertised to me as a “beginner’s band,” and they needed a guitar player. As if that weren’t enough, it’s also an English-speaking church over there (English being my first language). That meant I could communicate about the music and get real feedback. Everything seemed in place: It was a beginners band, they needed a guitar, and I could fit right in.
I still said I would pray on it, which I did, because I’ve learned in life to think over every decision I can, if I have time. Now I pray on my decisions too, and consult the LORD for Wisdom on what I should do. Reading the Bible has taught me the importance of this, and the bad things that happen when we take major decisions without consulting the LORD first. So I asked the LORD whether I should join this Christian band.
And I heard the LORD say to me: “Are you paying attention?? Don’t you see this is a perfect opportunity?? Don’t you see this is a door I’m opening for you?? But if you think you can turn this one down and find another beginners band who need the instrument you play, then go ahead and take that risk. Yeah, maybe another one will come along next week. Right.”
That’s when I realized all the barriers that would usually be in the way of an opportunity like this were all knocked down. Normally there are treacherous obstacles and barriers in the way if we want to join a band. First, we need to find all the people who play all the instruments we need for the band, and those people must be willing to be in a band with us. They must be willing to practice, record music, perform live or whatever.
Second, if someone already has a band together and we want to join, there needs to be room for our instrument. If we play the drums, for example, we can’t join a band if they already have a drummer and don’t want another one. And skill level is another factor. A secular band would probably make us try out and prove our skills. A “beginner’s band” is not an opportunity that comes along every day!!
These barriers have stopped countless people in their tracks over the years. Many more people want to be in a band than actually are in a band. But in this case, I understood that none of these barriers were in the way; the LORD had knocked them all down. And He did that because he was showing me an open door He wanted me to walk through. He had prepared me to walk through the door when it opened, and now it was time. So I entered. I’m already having a great time with it, and I can’t wait to find out where this will lead.
So this is my story of what it looks like when God opens a door for us in our life. When it’s God’s doing you may find, like I did, that all the barriers that would be there are knocked down. But that doesn’t mean this will always be the case, of course. God may open a door for us along with a barrier, and an important part of the opportunity will be overcoming that.
Pleasant Surprises on a Tough Path
When I played guitar in high school and college, of course I had daydreams about being in a band, performing live and winning the adoration of fans. But I didn’t take those daydreams serious because I didn’t have the skills to play live. Over time I forgot all about it.
Well, there’s a common expression that once you stop looking for something, there it is. That’s exactly what happened for me in this case. It’s been a long time since I first daydreamed of playing guitar live, but now the LORD is making it an actual reality. Only now I’m doing it to Glorify God and Evangelize the public as part of a team, rather than doing it for my own fame and vanity. Because I doubt very much we will gain any level of fame—good thing none of us are in it for that!!
To me this has been a reminder of “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) This isn’t the real meaning of what Jesus was saying, but it somewhat applies. If we focus our energy on following God as we continue on this journey, God will give us good things along the way. Pleasant surprises, things we weren’t even expecting or thinking about. Just like this opportunity I was blessed with to play in a Christian band.
So for anyone going through a dry, uneventful season with the LORD, keep going and keep following Him. Don’t give up. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, and one day He will open a door to something new. While you’re still waiting, pray to the LORD for Wisdom and guidance so you’ll recognize the door when it opens, and be prepared to walk through it.
I pray my story will help you with that.
Well that’s all for this week. If you enjoyed today’s post, be sure to Subscribe using the link below. And please consider Supporting My Blog using the Tip Jar. Any amount is much appreciated!
Until next time, be strong and do good!
Your new best friend in Christ,
99:9
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