Open Doors

by Chris Simmons

Acts chapter 19 describes Paul’s work for over two years preaching and teaching in the city of Ephesus. Paul spoke of his work in Ephesus in I Corinthians 16:8-9 and said, “But I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

Paul speaks of his “wide door” that is open for “effective service” – that is, he had a window of great opportunity (note that it was not just any door but a “wide door”) that he wanted to take advantage of. He also spoke of his realization that the window would at some point close because of the “many adversaries” in Ephesus. Opportunities do not last forever and Paul’s ministry in the city of Ephesus illustrates the point that we need to make the most of those that are presented to us. Paul could already see his adversaries at work seeking to close the door that had been opened to him, as they had so many times before.

Later, during his first imprisonment, while Paul was able to reflect on the opportunities the “wide door” provided him in Ephesus, it’s not surprising that he would write to the brethren in Ephesus (5:17) to exhort them, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Paul had set the example for them, while he was with them (cf. Acts 20:18-20, 31), of what it meant to be “making the most of your time.” Written about the same time as the Ephesian letter, Paul addressed the brethren in Colossae in Colossians 4:3-6 with a view to open doors that were yet to come, for the saints in Colossae and himself, as he asked that they would continue “praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” How impressive it is that while imprisoned, Paul asked his brethren to pray that he be granted more open doors to present the word of God.

Our time and opportunities are fleeting and the formidable challenge is to recognize that truth while we are in the moment rather than in hindsight. David wrote in Psalms 90:7-12, “For we have been consumed by Your anger and by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have declined in Your fury; we have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away. Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

David’s words teach us that our fleeting time upon earth should cause us:

• To reflect on how foolish we are to spend our limited time in sinful pursuits and temporal selfish pleasures. To focus on our selfish lusts and desires is to miss doors of opportunity in the Lord’s service. Peter exhorts us to consider past time wasted in pursuit of sinful lusts “sufficient” and rather to “live the rest of the time … for the will of God” (I Peter 4:1-3).
  
  
• To understand how angry we make God when we waste our time in such wicked pursuits. In Psalms 90, David refers to God’s anger, wrath, and fury in response to man’s sins, iniquities, and wasted opportunities. The solution David says is to fear God and learn to “number our days” and recognize that doors of opportunity are fleeting.
  
  
• To purposefully value each and every day God blesses us with and the opportunities they provide. The “heart of wisdom” is reflected by Paul in his efforts to preach the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) in Ephesus while the “wide door” remained open. Paul understood it would not always remain that way.

For us to be able to take advantage of open doors, we need to begin by praying as Paul did on behalf of the Colossians. Second, we have to adopt a spiritual mindset that focuses on spiritual needs and opportunities before us (Colossians 3:1-2; Romans 8:5-8). Third, we have to prepare ourselves to use God’s word as effectively and accurately as Paul did as he exhorted in II Timothy 2:15. Finally, we have to be people of action who as “doers of the word and not merely hearers” (James 1:22) respond to opportunities with humble obedience.