As I’ve prayed during these last dozen years, I’ve purposely begged God to fling WIDE the doors He has chosen for me and to SLAM shut the doors not in His plan.

When you are walking through darkness during a season of complete uncertainty, you need His light to guide you.

You rely on His guidance.  

I like the analogy of open and shut doors; although, I added an extra measure of assurance.

I wanted to easily walk through to His plan or get slammed in the face with a resounding NO.

Might as well be crystal clear, am I right?

I’ve had many doors open with ease: graduate degrees, student teaching, first job, and marrying the right man just to name a few.

I’ve also had plenty of slammed doors, mostly in the area of dating the wrong men before I married my husband. Giggle.

Guess what?

Those slammed doors are a whole lot of fun.

It’s a joy to know which man God did NOT have hand picked for me.  

Back in the day, one date never showed up after weeks of talking on the phone.

He would have been my first date post divorce.

It was the weirdest thing, but God knew best.

I won’t lie – I was bitterly disappointed for a few hours.

My pride was wounded.

But I turned my focus to God and realized it was simply a closed door.

And each closed door moves you closer to a door flung wide open!

Another story? Well, a different date ended in disaster after he told me he had been ‘quite bored’.

I was sitting at home when I got that text.

I began to laugh.

This man had spent the previous two weeks proclaiming his devotion and wondering ‘where I had been his whole life’.

He was also a Christian, but every time he called, I almost broke out into a sweat, because he was easily offended.

Not a good sign!

This guy was the one missing out on me.

It was his loss, certainly not mine.

When the ground shakes from a slammed door, get on your knees and thank God for having your back.

He knows what is best for you.

Because God flung wide the door with my beloved almost a decade ago, I am even more grateful for the closed doors.

I mean, God saved me from a lifetime of misery with the wrong man.

How can a girl not get on her knees thanking God for that?

When God answers you, it may be in a way you absolutely never expected.

Trust Him.

You pray for open and shut doors and wisdom for a lunch date.

The door slams shut.

Why? Because the date never shows up.

Recognize God’s shouts after you’ve ignored His whispers.

Yes, God will communicate to you, but we must listen.

And after listening, we must trust that yes, God still knows what He’s doing even after we hate His answer.

Pray for those doors.

Ask your friends and family to pray for you in this way.

It helps immensely.

Almost like a dot to dot puzzle.

And remember how fun those were?

Photos by valérie faiola, Ibrahim Rifath, & Jonathan Borba on Unsplash