Daily Devotional - Step Out and Find Out

A wide door of opportunity for effectual [service] has opened to me [there, a great and promising one], and [there are] many adversaries. 
—1 Corinthians 16:9

Sometimes the only way to discover God’s will is to practice what I call “stepping out and finding out.” If I have prayed about a situation and still don’t seem to know what to do, I simply take a step of faith. God has shown me that trusting Him is like standing before an automatic door at a supermarket. We can stand and look at the door all day, but it won’t open until we take a step forward and trigger the mechanism that opens it.

There are times in life when we must take a step forward in order to find out, one way or the other, what we should do. Some doors open as soon as we take a step of faith and others never open no matter what we do. When God opens the door, then go through it. If He does not open the door, then be satisfied to take another direction. But do not let fear trap you in total inactivity.

In the verse for today, Paul mentions the door of opportunity before him, but he also mentions “many adversaries,” so we must be sure we don’t mistake opposition for a closed door.

Paul and his coworkers, Silas and Barnabas, did not sit and wait for an angel to appear or a vision to come from heaven while they were seeking God’s will. They took steps in the direction they felt was right. Many times God did open doors for them, but there were times when He closed doors. This did not discourage them, but they simply kept going forward in faith, searching for what God wanted them to do.

God’s word for you today: Walk boldly through the doors God opens for you, and don’t become discouraged when He closes one