Have you ever witnessed someone stopped at a green light? It is a strange sight, isn’t it? Especially if you are the type of person that is, shall we say, highly motivated when behind the steering wheel of a car.
Green means go. And, in 1 Corinthians, we find a moment when the Apostle Paul saw green, "For a great door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries."
Paul had a green light from God. An open door. An opening where there had previously only been a wall. But, despite the opportunity to forward the progression of his ministry, adversaries were assembling between him and the open door. This approach of the enemy is his defensive strategy. He knows that he can’t shut the door because the Scriptures are clear, “no man can close a door that God has opened.” The enemy’s response to this truth is to try and stop you in the hallway! If he can’t shut the door, then he must keep you from getting to it and going through it.
Recognize this reality, if God opens a door, then no man can close it, but it is up to you to walk through it. There is no change to this truth even if there are storms, struggles, or shadows of death in the transitional path from where you are now to the door God has opened.
Psalm 23 reminds us that we must keep putting one foot in front of each other, “For though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Notice the structure of this Psalm; there is a valley filled with trouble. Yet, there is a table on the other side of the shadow of death. It seems as though the Psalmist is on one side of the valley, and he can see to the other side. On the horizon, there is a door opening to a large dining room where a table of celebration waits in splendor. The Psalmist realizes, once he makes it to the other side of that door, every enemy he defeated in the battles within the valley will have to watch him enjoy a feast of victory. From this perspective, Psalm 23 looks a lot like 1 Corinthians 16:9, “For a great door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
Don’t stop on green! Regardless of what the enemy has placed in your path.
The Bible has so much more to say about this subject. Including a powerful truth from an Old Testament prophet, Hosea, about how God chooses the place of our most significant trouble to install doors of hope. I invite you to watch my message on this subject as we break this truth down in further detail, and I share a moment when I fought hell in the hallway while learning the lesson, “Don’t Stop on Green.”
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