Before It Opened
On restraint, readiness, and trust
Beloved Friend,
It’s a new month, one that often brings conversations about the intentionality of partners and what not. It feels fitting to begin with the beauty of God’s intentionality, His thoughtfulness, His kindness, and the way even His restraint carries mercy.
I am learning that God does not open doors simply because we crave them. He opens them because He knows we are ready. Scripture tells us that a man’s steps are ordered by the Lord, which means timing is never accidental. It is deliberate.
There are moments when we pray earnestly for doors to open, convinced that desire alone should qualify us. Still, God waits. Not to frustrate us, but to protect us. Not because He is withholding good, but because He is preparing us to carry it well.
There are also doors God opens that we never felt prepared for. Rooms we did not lobby to enter. Assignments we did not feel strong enough to hold. Yet somehow, by grace, our heads remain above water. Strength appears where fear once lived. Wisdom rises where uncertainty once ruled.
Looking back, I can see that God knew I was ready long before I did.
He watched seasons I wanted to escape quickly. Seasons marked by loss and friendship breakups that left me convinced the solution was replacement. I thought new friendships were the key. God thought healing was. So He withheld what I wanted, not out of cruelty, but out of care.
Scripture says He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Some wounds need time before new connections are introduced. Some bleeding must stop before building can begin. God knew that introducing people too early would have caused harm to what He intended to grow. That was mercy disguised as delay.
There are moments now when I look at certain opportunities and think this could not have happened at a better time. With clarity, I can say it truly was perfect timing. Some doors would have drowned me if they opened earlier. Maturity was required to understand that not every good door is a God door.
Scripture tells us that wisdom is profitable to direct.
In light of all this, I find myself trusting God’s judgment more deeply. There are heights I want to attain and rooms I hope to influence. Trust has taught me something important. If God says I am ready, then I step forward, even if fear is present. I really do be giving myself the “do it afraid talk” sometimes.
If God says I am not ready, restraint becomes worship. I resist the urge to force my way forward, to manufacture access, or to chase a false sense of accomplishment just to prove relevance. Scripture reminds us that promotion does not come from the east or the west, but from the Lord who lifts one and sets down another.
The sweetest part of this journey is knowing that readiness does not mean abandonment. When God opens a door, He does not withdraw His hand. He trusts that we are mature enough to walk through it without letting go of Him. His presence does not stay behind. It goes ahead.
Scripture says He goes before us and makes crooked places straight.
This week is an invitation to trust His timing again. To believe that delay is not denial. To accept that preparation is love. To rest in the truth that God knows what we can carry, when we can carry it, and how to walk with us through it.
May we learn to trust the doors He keeps closed and walk bravely through the ones He opens.
May we hold His hand tightly in both waiting and walking.
In Jesus’s name, amen.
With thoughts of kindness,
ABBA’s Shofar