Closed doors

One thing about prison is that when they lock us in, we are locked in, and there is nothing we can do about it. I hear our tier-block gate slam shut and every time it closes, I'm still not used to the sound....but I'm now used to the reason behind the "locked gate," and I know ‘it is what it is.'

When you first come to prison, it takes some time getting used to being "locked up." You cannot go as you please and you must rely on an officer to open the door. Heck, you can't even lock in by yourself and an officer must do that too. As inmates, we had to come to the understanding that a closed door is undoubtedly a closed door, and we must not question the reasons behind it.

I'm not fazed by the locked gate anymore and I know that when it is unlocked, then I can walk through it-- until then I wait patiently.

Likewise in life, we are always looking for that open door, hoping for the one opportunity, but when it shuts on us, we get discouraged and question God. We never come to the understanding that these closed doors are a God-send. What appears to be a dead end only means to turn around to find another way: "So I say to you, ASK, and it will be given to you; SEEK, and you will FIND; KNOCK, and it will be OPENED to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Luke 11:9-10.

This doesn't mean that we get whatever we want, but when we pray for God's will in our life, we can be sure that He will open the doors He wants open and close the doors He wants closed. When we ask in His name and purpose, we will always receive what is spiritually beneficial in our lives, and sometimes that's a "locked gate." Do not lose faith when a door closes, because there is always a reason behind it. Continue to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK; for when that door opens by God, no one can shut it. "He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens." (Revelations 3:7)

There is always a reason behind a closed door, it is what it is, and sometimes a "closed way" brings us "closer" to the right way.