In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:17
There will be times in your life that you will hit crossroads. This is a place where you will have to make decisions either to stay or walk away and shut some doors so you can walk in new ones. This is a time where you will feel tested, weak and sometimes very confused. I remember wrestling with God a lot in my past. I was very stubborn and hard headed. God wanted to teach me to trust in Him in every situation whether in the good times or the bad ones. One true test that you have faith in the Lord is when you obey. And this is where most people have that greatest battle. It’s one thing to say I believe but it’s another thing to act in faith.
“Can I really rely on God’s word? Does He really have the best plan and intentions for my life? “
I made a big leap of faith then when I invited Jesus to be the CEO of our company in 2004. At the time, my biggest clients were all sin products: alcoholic beverages and tobacco. These clients poured in about 70% of my business. But the Lord convicted my heart about being a full pledged Christian company and was challenging me to close the door on servicing these kind of products. I will not lie that it was not easy to let go of something you have been doing so well and love doing for years. The desire to follow Jesus meant that I needed to make a stand in what I truly believed in… but I lacked courage. I needed enough guts to shut the door. I prayed hard because the burden was so heavy and I started to show God my deepest fear.
Lord, who will pay for the salaries of my staff?
Lord will you really take care of my needs? With 2 kids, who will sustain me?
Lord what if I can’t find clients that can replace my loss?
The real issue here was my unbelief. At the back of my head, I was worried about the results of my decision. Is this truly wise or just plain blind faith?
Lord Jesus, help me believe that what You say is true! Let me experience you as the Almighty God. You are my Provider, my Prince of peace. Help me make you Lord over everything in my life.
I will never forget the day I told the office we will no longer service any sin products. An eerie silence enveloped the room. I knew that they were all scared at this new move that I made.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and did it. I shut the door.
It was then I got the surprise of my life. I started getting clients that I never serviced before. They were giving me even bigger projects than I ever handled before. I could not even credit any of it as my hard work because literally they made calls in our office and asked us to personally service them. This is nothing but God’s grace and favor. We mounted so many International events: sports, corporate launches, branding, activations and festivals. I would have never been able to entertain these kinds if I did not intentionally make a stand to shut that door. To date we have grown exponentially 4x more than when we started 15 years ago.
When God asked me to walk out that door of our sinful relationship with John, there was so much uncertainty. I once again wrestled, justified and even literally was begging God to change his mind. But God’s prodding became louder and louder as the days and months went by. I knew this was the right thing to do but I also was battling my greatest fear: To be unloved. I did not see where God was bringing me but I decided to trust Him. I mustered enough faith to just shut that door! I never thought God would give a sweet twist to our story. It took YEARS in the making but only when we had our true identity, security and full faith in Jesus that He miraculously put us back together. I say it is “miraculous” because I never thought I would end up with John. God made sure we did not go back to our old selves but instead be a new creation in Christ. So when God opened that door – we were never the same anymore.
Intentionally shutting doors in order to please and follow God only means great things are yet to come.
Shut doors means Growth. If we want to grow in faith, in Christ-likeness and in obedience, we must take that bold step to close that door.
Shut doors means opening to God’s favor. When we are under His covering, we can rest and have peace knowing He is our true security.
Shutting that door means life. We all want a full and abundant life. We need to decide to choose the path where it leads to real and true life. We can only find it in Jesus. We can trust that Jesus is our real shepherd. When we follow Him, we will not be concerned about shut doors. Because we can be guaranteed that He will lead us to green pasture and still waters.
Last 2015, God nudged us again to close another door. It was a difficult call, because we were comfortable where God put us. Everything we did in our business declared His name. Despite the accolades and all the blessings, God asked us to re-engineer our businesses to give way to something even bigger than what we are already doing. It was so painful to shut this one. It cost us greatly. But as John puts it “It’s costlier not to obey the Lord.” God wanted us to take care of his church. Revelation Church is home to over 200 kids, at least 50 families. I now understand why God allowed John and I to be in the business of advertising and marketing, events, photo and video. Little did we know this would be the backbone of the church.
Don’t underestimate what God can do through you. So don’t be afraid to obey God when He ask you to shut the door. Make that stand and experience the joy of walking with the Lord.
