When I started my writing journey it seemed that all the
right doors were opening for me. My small measure of success was enough to
encourage me to keep on writing. My blog grew from 25 subscribers to 100. The
few that were unknown to me were the most exciting.
A few pieces I submitted for publication were accepted and I
felt I could legitimately call myself a writer.
Then things changed. Comments on my blog posts became
non-existent. I started to doubt my calling.
Rejection became more frequent than acceptance. On
the outside I smiled and congratulated my colleagues on their success. Although I was happy for them I was also disappointed that success wasn’t smiling upon me. I
wondered what had gone wrong.
It appeared that the doors I was knocking on were remaining
firmly closed. Why was this happening? Was I focused on the wrong doors? Were
there others I should try?
I gained some insight when I read All The Places to Go: How Will You Know by John Ortberg. In it he talks about God placing doors before
us. When they are open, it’s our choice to go through them or not. The doors
that God closes cannot be forced open, no matter how hard we try. A line from the book that had great meaning for me was, “Someday, somehow, in a way none of us now can
understand, we will be as grateful for the closed doors as we are for the open
ones now.”
Perhaps the closed doors were there because I had more to
learn before I would be ready to go through them. Maybe I was trying to do too
much in my own strength rather than waiting for guidance from God.
All I know for sure is that the plan is not my own. My job
is to be aware of the doors before me and learn from both the open and closed
ones. I have faith that God will open the right doors for me as I walk closely
with him and pay attention to his leading.
