When God Closes a Door, Ask Yourself This Question
I sit with a friend and admire the daylilies as they bow low beneath the afternoon sun. I’ve just told her about a recent disappointment, and my heart is heavy. I thought God was leading one way, but the door slammed shut in my face. When God closes a door, it can be hard to know where to turn next.
I’m pondering my situation when my friend asks a hard question:
“Is there a chance you’re trying to turn stones into bread?”
She then shares what she’s been learning about turning stones into bread:
Before Jesus began his public ministry, the Holy Spirit called him into the wilderness. Here, Satan tempted Jesus in three ways. First, he tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy his physical hunger. Next, he tempted Jesus to dive from a great height and command the angels to catch him. Last, Satan tempted Jesus to worship him and receive the kingdoms of the world in exchange.
In the first temptation of turning stones into bread, Satan was asking Jesus to use his power in a way that God never ordained. Turning stones to bread would have been self-serving, and Jesus did not come to earth to serve himself.
What does this have to do with us? Perhaps more than we realize.
When God Closes a Door
Some of us have unfulfilled dreams and deferred hopes for our lives. We have visions for different careers, new ministries, and deep desires to come to pass. We have prayed and waited, and we’re tired of waiting.
Turning stones into bread is the act of taking a God-given gift and claiming ownership.
Instead of stewarding the gift, the talent, or the assignment, you decide to force an outcome. Your intentions might be in the right place, but you’re pushing ahead of God’s timing.
Maybe you try to launch the ministry ten years too soon.
Perhaps you try to write the book before it’s time.
Maybe you marry someone who isn’t well-suited for you because you’re tired of waiting on God.
Rest assured that there is no condemnation for trying to turn stones to bread. Our intentions are often good and pure. In our humanness, it is easy to lose sight of God’s direction and take matters into our hands. At these times, closed doors are often God’s greatest gifts to us.
Let’s look at how we can apply this to our lives and explore some practical steps to take when God closes doors.
How to Proceed When God Closes a Door
If God has recently closed a door in your life, I encourage you to take the following steps. Also, be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you find direction when God closes a door.
1. Consider whether you’ve been trying to turn stones into bread.
At times, God does call us to take risks. He calls us to step out in faith.
However, if you’ve been stepping out and finding closed doors, it’s time to ask yourself the question my friend asked me:
Am I trying to turn these stones into bread?
We try to turn stones into bread in subtle ways. We try to turn stones into bread when we lose sight of our callings and start to find our identities through our job titles.
Turning stones into bread happens when the business becomes a mission for money-making or for building our own kingdoms, and we lose sight of why we started it in the first place.
We try to turn stones into bread when our dreams to make much of God turn into making much of ourselves. We start to think a little too much about the followers, the fans, and the numbers.
If you’ve been trying to turn stones to bread, rest assured that God is not angry with you. Turn to him and ask him to align your heart with his heart. He will refine your motives and clarify your calling. It might take time to get on the right track with him, but he wants to direct you.
The following steps can help you.
2. Work through your emotions with God.
Let me begin by empathizing with you if God has closed a door in your life.
I have been here. It hurts.
Grieve the loss. Your pain is real, and the Lord wants to minister to your heart. By processing your emotions with him, you move toward healing.
One of the most painful closed doors in my life was a writing job that fell apart after six months of hard work. The door slammed shut in my face, and I felt like a failure. I spent months working through shame, confusion, doubt, and disillusionment.
Ultimately, God showed me that he was protecting me; however, I also had to work through the surrounding emotions.
It might help to share your feelings with a trusted friend or therapist. God wants to help you work through your emotions so that you can move on to the next step.
3. Recognzie this as an opportunity to grow in trust and faith.
You probably don’t understand why this door closed. I invite you to pray a brave prayer. Ask God to help you trust him with what you don’t understand. In doing so, you will grow in trust and faith.
We grow to trust God more by walking through situations in which trusting him feels difficult. Every time you feel tempted to question why God closed this door, ask him to help you grow in trust.
Meanwhile, hold onto this truth: Often, God closes doors in these situations for our protection. It never feels good, but he closes doors out of love for us. Ask him to help you trust that this disappointment is for your protection and your good.
God's closed doors often hurt, but they are also for our protection. #trust #followingGod #disappointment Share on X4. Keep doing what God has set in front of you today.
Processing your emotions with God and growing in trust will take time. Meanwhile, God has placed an assignment in front of you today.
It might not be as exciting as the dream you were pursuing. You might not feel energized or motivated.
Nevertheless, continue to put your whole heart into the work he has set before you today. Today’s assignment is preparing you for the next open door.
As for me, God eventually opened a different door in the aftermath of my disappointment. I realized that I’d been rushing ahead of his timing (albeit, with pure motives), and I learned to slow down and watch for his gentle direction.
The best news is that when the new door opened, it led me to a place that was exponentially better than the first door could have possibly led me.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Calling All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. 
