What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. -Revelation 3:7

I was just thanking God for all the no’s that He’s spoken over my life. For all the times He’s held me back, for all the times He’s prohibited me, for all the times He’s put roadblocks in my way, and totally shut the door in my face!

The scripture says that all the promises of God find their “yes” in Jesus, but it also says that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and a Good Shepherd cares enough to say “no”.

When Jesus says no, it’s just as important as when He says yes. One is not better than the other. There are many reasons that Jesus may say no. It goes without saying that if Jesus is the one that is prohibiting us, then it’s for our benefit whether we understand it or not.

God closes doors for many reasons. So many in fact, it would be impossible to list them all! One of the most obvious reasons to me for God closing doors is to protect me from the enemy.

Many of the things that Jesus has said no to in my life were actually decoys presented by the enemy of my soul.

 

Glittering lures

Oh, how the enemy loves to dangle his glittering lure before my eyes. I hate to admit how many times I’ve been fooled. I’m just about to take the bait, when it suddenly disappears!

What happened? Where did it go??

To put it bluntly, Jesus knows that I’m about to take the bait- hook, line and sinker, so He either yanks the fishing pole out of satan’s hand, or He takes His staff, puts it around my neck, and jerks me back! When He does that it can feel severe. It’s jarring!

It’s no different than a mother seeing her little boy about to dash into traffic. She suddenly grabs his arm and yanks him back. The child is merely going along his way. Maybe he sees something that attracts his attention across the street so he goes running for it. His mom springs into action and suddenly it feels like his arm is going to be dislocated! Does he like it? Hardly. But he gets to live another day because of it.

We have no idea what God has spared us from. Sometimes He whispers no, sometimes He shouts it, but it is never without reason!

I’m convinced some of the greatest blessings in my life have come from God getting in my way. He simply said “no”. He prevented me from doing what I was about to do. Most of the time He doesn’t bother explaining why. He just stands in my way, closes the door, and that’s the end of the matter. Caring enough to say no is one of the traits of a good shepherd.

And he blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, -Genesis 48:15