Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

Revelation 3:8

8 “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door that no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

These are the words written to the church in Philadelphia. Evidently, this was a good church — not a big one — but a good one.

The Lord had set before them an open door that no one could shut. The works that were being done, the Lord knew of them and seemed pleased.

Although this church may not have had much power, they were faithful. They kept the Word and would not deny Jesus’ name. Their faithfulness was not dependent upon their size or their power, but upon the One who had opened the door before them.

Application:

I had the privilege of visiting the site of the church in Philadelphia a number of years ago. It is located in modern-day Turkey. The ruins are very small. Somehow, that seems fitting for what we read. And might I remind you — they are ruins. That church no longer exists. As a matter of fact, none of the seven churches in Revelation are functioning churches today. But in its time, the church in Philadelphia was faithful.

We don’t know exactly what the open door represented, but we do know who opened it. Just before this verse, Jesus identifies Himself as the One “who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” Christ had opened something before this little church that no human power could close.

In my own imagination, I wonder whether that open door included opportunities for ministry. Maybe in our current context, it’s a ministry that seems out of the ordinary for your church or situation.

But what happens when God opens a door? A door that no person can shut? Are we willing to walk through that door, even if what lies on the other side doesn’t look like something we dreamed up?

When the church, individually and collectively, is moving in the stream of the Holy Spirit, I believe we begin to recognize open doors. God opens them — we don’t have to. Our responsibility is to be faithful enough to recognize them and willing to walk through them.

Living and working in the former Soviet Union, there came a moment in our ministry when we discovered that there were all kinds of open doors — places where God had already been at work. I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but before that time we had been working on a strategic plan. People wanted to know where we would be planting the next church, and we worked hard at developing those plans.

But then, something began to change. We became more dependent upon the Lord. We discovered that human doors could not simply be shoved open, but our eyes could be opened to see the doors that God was already opening.

We began to get letters — out of the blue — from people in cities far away, asking if we would come and begin a church.

It wasn’t in our strategic plan.

How did that happen?

God had already been at work.

God wants to place before us doors that no one is able to shut. We don’t have to be big. We don’t have to have a lot of power. The church in Philadelphia had “but little power,” and yet they had remained faithful.

Maybe that’s the point. We don’t have to have a lot of power when the One who holds the key is the One opening the door.

Our calling is to keep His Word, not deny His name, keep our eyes open, and faithfully walk through the doors He places before us. And sometimes, on the other side of that door, God accomplishes far more than anything we could ever have put into a strategic plan.

Prayer:

Lord, I am so grateful for the open doors. I want to live and minister in Your stream in such a way that I am aware of the doors You have placed before me that no one can shut. Open my eyes to see where You are already at work, and help me to be faithful to walk through those doors and serve You. Amen.