Mark 2:1-5 Four friends bring their friend to Jesus
This was a man who had palsy. The four had placed him on a bed and then did what they had to do in order to get their friend to Jesus. They were not deterred; they refused to quit; they didn’t let one closed door stop them.
So many people miss out on God’s will because they let closed doors keep them from doing what they ought to do. It is one thing when the Lord closes a door to us. But there are times when Satan closes doors or life closes doors, and when that happens we have to push on through the closed door, or make another way.
That is what the friends did. They knew getting their friend to Jesus was the right thing to do. So they made a way where there wasn’t one. They overcame the closed doors and broke open the roof.
Too often, people let things stop them from good. People let things stop them from doing right, and following God. It is hard to follow the Lord at times, and it is hard to do good at times. So we have to be willing to dig deep and find a way.
Ill: The children of Israel were supposed to go into the land of Canaan. But they said, we can’t, the door is closed, there are giants in the land, and we can’t defeat them. It was God’s will for them to go and they should have gone in, trusting God. Instead, God had to punish them for disobeying.
Ill: The apostles were preaching and they ended up being detained; they were told to stop preaching about Jesus. Now, they could have said, closed door, we have to stop. But they didn’t; they kept on preaching anyhow!
What we have to know is this, who is closing the door – God or Satan. If it is God, we stop, but if it’s Satan we kick down the door, or make a new one.
-S. Borner