Closed
Doors
by Jean Easley
The
travels of a missionary are sometimes perilous and often costly both on
the mission field and on itineration.
The price of one itineration trip proved to be well worth the cost
as we learned an invaluable lesson about closed doors.
The missionary always prays for open doors.
If the churches will open the door to having the missionary come,
he believes that the people will readily accept his burden for the field
God chose for him and will help to support his work.
A closed door, therefore, was not very welcome.
Nobody likes a closed door.
We were
living on the "Eastern Slope" of
But my
husband was not one to cancel a hard-earned service, so we prayed and set
out for the "Western Slope."
On the way, the devil came along for the ride and tried to
discourage my husband by saying how that the travel would cost more than
the offering would be and how we were wasting missions money on this trip.
Bro. Easley just shook off those thoughts and said we would go and
pray and have a good service and not worry about the money--and see what
the Lord would do for the people of the little community and little church
of Dove Creek!
The
Sunday morning service was a good service; there was a good spirit there;
we had an altar call; and we were happy with the outcome.
After church, the pastors asked where we would be for that
Sunday evening's service, and Bro. Easley explained that for some reason
he had just not been able to fill it.
It was a dreaded closed door.
The
pastor immediately said if we were free that he would like for us to stay
and preach for him again Sunday night, and we happily agreed to stay.
It was that Sunday evening service to which God made a special
visitation! What a move of God
we had during that service! We
were so glad we were there, even though it was planned at the last minute.
The Holy Spirit moved on all the people, and we remained in the
altars for a good season of prayer.
We were
having a bite to eat with the pastors after church, and the pastor joined
us a little late and gave us our offering.
He handed Bro. Easley the check and said, "I think this will
help you on your way." Amazingly,
from a very small congregation, the check was for $1,106.00, the single
biggest offering we had ever had up to that time!
Praise God! The pastor
told us later that a lady that had not attended the morning service was
there that night and felt God leading her to give a big offering, which
she did.
It was a
very important lesson for us to learn about closed doors.
We learned not to despise them.
Because now when the doors close, we look to God to open the right
door at the right time, as He did for us on that trip!
Yes, we had been taunted by the enemy on our way to Dove Creek. But when Monday morning came and we left there for the trip back home, the devil had to find another ride. He couldn’t get in the car this trip. There was too much rejoicing in the Lord over victories won, and the devil doesn’t like it when we rejoice in God!
COPYRIGHT REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS: This data file is the sole property of Gene Easley. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 2006 by Gene Easley"). This data file may not be used without the permission of Gene Easley for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content with the exception of a few brief quotations. Please give the following source credit: Copyright (C) 2006 by Gene Easley, Alamo, Texas.
