Have you ever been surprised by what’s behind the door? I told you last week that my older brother used to wait behind closed doors just to scare the heeby jeebies out of me. That was always a surprise. In fact, last week I did this thing where all throughout my sermon I opened and closed the door and by about the 4th or 5th service I started to get a little freaked out that someone was going to try to be funny and that they were going to be waiting behind the door when I opened it on stage…I would’ve likely had a heart attack! Because there’s something about opening the door to reveal a surprise.
I think that’s why as a kid I used to love watching 2 shows on TV, and if you’re in your mid 30’s like I am, you probably loved these shows too. The Price Is Right and Let’s Make A Deal. Anybody else a fan of those shows? Yeah, both of those shows knew the art of the reveal. They would open the door to reveal…A NEW CAR! And it was always like the most exciting moment of daytime television!
Surprised by what was behind the door. The other night at about 8:30 or 9:00 our doorbell rang and Tabitha, my wife, was like, who is that? We weren’t expecting anybody, and my doorbell doesn’t ring that often at 9:00 at night, so I’m going to tell you where my mind went for those few seconds before we opened the door. Some of you are going to think I’m crazy, and I might be, but here’s where my mind went. Ok? When that doorbell rang, immediately I pictured in my mind this publisher’s clearing house moment outside my door. I did, I know it sounds crazy, but let me explain. About a month earlier I had entered to win the HGTV dream home because one of my life goals is to live on the water. If you think I can preach a good sermon now you just wait until that sermon is written from an office with a water view, and if you win the HGTV dream home they give you like a million bucks and then I could go buy a house on the water. So in that moment, the doorbell rings and I just knew it was HGTV and I was going to open my door to cameras and lights and a big check and bouquets of balloons and a key to my dream house. Needless to say, it wasn’t HGTV. Surprise! It was my mother in law!
Yeah, surprises lie behind the door and today I want to tell you that I believe that God’s got a surprise in store for you behind the door and you can’t see it and you’re not expecting it, in fact, you know nothing about it, but behind every closed door, God is at work preparing a new opportunity, a new beginning, a better surprise than you ever dreamed of. God works in the most unexpected circumstances for your good and it’s often behind closed doors.
I want to prove it to you today from the Bible, I want to show you a fascinating story that I think we can learn so much from about the surprises of God. The Bible tells us this story, it says Acts 12:1-16 NIV: It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
(I want to stop for a minute and make sure you get the context of this story. In the beginning of this movement, this movement we now know of as the church and Christianity, it was viewed as quite the threat to Judaism and honestly to the Roman government so there was a great deal of persecution against the early followers of Christ. But I want to make sure you know something, those closest to Jesus knew that this was a cause worth dying for. That following Christ, and carrying on His mission was worth giving your life for. Did you see it? James, one of the early disciples was slaughtered for his faith and now Peter, maybe you remember Peter. Walking on water Peter. Outspoken Peter. Denied Jesus Peter. Leader of the early Church Peter has been arrested and it’s quite likely that his fate is the same as James’. He’s going to be killed for following Jesus.
And I know that seems like a foreign concept to us today, but it truly isn’t. Did you know that Christians are the most persecuted religious group worldwide? That an average of 100 Christians around the world are killed each and every month for their faith. 100 a month! Things aren’t as different from the Bible as they might seem. You and I are just ridiculously blessed to live in a country of freedom where we gather to worship without the threat of persecution. 100 a month give their lives. What does it cost you to follow Jesus?
The story continues, it says) After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, (don’t miss that, the night before the trial) Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” (apparently Peter slept in the buff) And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” (Peter wasn’t expecting it, Peter wasn’t looking for it. Peter wasn’t doing anything to deserve it or make it happen, Peter was asleep for goodness sakes. Sound asleep to the point that the angel had to poke him to get him to wake up. But what Peter didn’t know was that God was at work, behind the door, behind the jail cell, behind the guards, behind the gate, God was at work coming to His rescue. Surprise!
God works miracles behind the scenes and sometimes it seems like it’s at the last minute, it’s the night before the trial, there seems to be no hope, no way, no solution, but God can open doors that on our own we cannot open. I want you to understand something, when you’ve done all you can do, you have to learn to trust God to do for you what you cannot do. Peter couldn’t open those doors, but God did. Did you see it? The gate opened by itself!
This is probably one of the hardest lessons for type A, controlling, high energy, get it done kind of people. I’m sure there aren’t any of those here today, but in case you know somebody like that, tell ‘em this is a message they need to hear! When you’ve done all you can do, trust God to do for you what you cannot do. When you’ve applied to job after job after job, when you’ve said I’m sorry and tried to make things right, when you’re living on a budget and giving back to God, when you’re doing the best you know how to do with your kids, when you’ve studied hard for that test and paid attention in class, when you’ve done all you can do, you’ve got to learn that God is going to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. That God is for you, not against you. That God is with you, He hasn’t abandoned you. That God is working behind the door, in ways and places that you cannot see. Trust God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
That’s a good word for somebody who is worried and stressed and anxious and about to give up hope in some hopeless situation. For somebody who is facing the night before the trial, I’m telling you today, God is doing something that you cannot see because sometimes he does it behind closed doors.
Can I help make sense of some closed doors for you today? I’m going to talk about this a little bit more in the weeks to come, but I really feel like some of you have faced some closed doors that have created some doubt and some discouragement, maybe some frustration, and you need to know that behind every closed door God is at work to open a new door. A better door. A bigger door. A more exciting door. I mean just think about it in your life.
• A door closed on a job and you were devastated in the moment, but what did God do? He opened the door for a better job! Remember that?
• A door closed on the college you wanted to attend, but God opened another door and you discovered later that God had a bigger purpose, a bigger plan.
• Maybe a door closed on a relationship. Come on, all of us have this story. Our heart got broken. She dumped you dude and you cried like a baby. Ya’ll were high school sweethearts and you thought he was the one but the door closed and in the moment it felt like the world was about to end, didn’t it? You thought in that moment that the closed door was the worst thing that could’ve ever happened. But now, now when you look him up on Facebook he’s fat and bald, and you’re like, thank God for the closed door, or you look her up on Facebook and she is straight up crazy and you’re thankful that door closed and that God opened a different door. A better door. A new door.
I’m trying to train my heart to recognize that when a door shuts, it’s a blessing from God because watch this, new doors cannot open unless old doors have first been closed. Peter had to first be imprisoned before he could be miraculously rescued. And maybe the closed door you’re facing is preparation for God to do the miraculous in your life. Don’t give up when a door closes, because God can open doors we could never open.
Back to the story, I haven’t even got to the point of today’s message. This is all introduction! It says) When this had dawned on him, (like it’s dawning on some of you today. God is speaking to some of you today, infusing hope in some of you today, seeing something behind the closed door for some of you today, it says) he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. (here’s my favorite part) When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” (so she just left poor Peter standing there. Homeboy is like HELLO? Anybody home! And look at this, those in the other room said) “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, (of course he did, cause she locked him out) and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
You’ve got to admit that this is a great story in the Bible. Even if you’re not so sure about the Bible, hey this is good reading. This is entertaining stuff. Rescued Peter, delivered Peter, safe and sound, alive and well Peter was the surprise on the other side of the door. And listen, they were praying, they were doing their part, they had done what they could do and then God showed up and did for them what they could not do, only what He could do and that’s the way God so often works. And our job is to train our hearts to trust Him when it seems as though the door is closed.
Listen, this is a paradigm shift for some of you, but you need to know that God loves you and has a plan for you. God wants what’s best for you and is working all things together for that end. In fact, the Bible says, Romans 8:28 NASB: And we know (not we hope, or we think, or we believe, but we know) that God causes all things (everything, even shut door things) to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Here’s the point I’ve been wanting to make all day long, but I’m just now getting around to it. Maybe you should write it down somewhere. God Specializes In Surprises On The Other Side Of A Closed Door. Let me say that again. God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door. Why don’t you humor me and let’s read it out loud together. Come on, God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door. You see, you weren't expecting it, you didn't order it, you can't see it, you didn’t do anything to arrange it, you thought the door was shut but today somebody needs to know that God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• So maybe you got laid off, or maybe you got passed over for that promotion or maybe you didn’t get that position you had really wanted and it feels like the door is closed, but you need to know that God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• So the relationship ended, you’ve said your goodbyes, she left you, he walked out, the Facebook relationship status has changed, the divorce is final and the door is shut, but that’s when you need to know that God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• The doctor said you’re sick, the tests came back positive, the treatment plan is extensive and the door seems like it’s shut, but you need to know that God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• You're single and have been looking and looking and looking and the door keeps shutting and shutting and shutting and shutting but God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• Your child has gone astray and nothing you've done has been able to bring them back home and you are at your wits end. You are beside yourself. The door feels like it’s shut, but God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• I’m talking to somebody today and you have an addiction you can't break through. You can’t get free of it and though you’ve tried, the door is shut and I’m telling that God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
• Maybe there’s someone you love that you know needs Jesus-you can't get them to WEC let alone to enter a relationship with Jesus. You've invited and they won't give a chance, God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door.
So don’t give up hope, don’t drown in your discouragement, don’t throw in the towel, don’t allow your frustration to override your faith, you may not see it, you probably can’t feel it, there’s now way of knowing it, but today I just sense it…God is working on your behalf and victory is on the way, because one more time, God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door. I commission you to remind yourself, every time a door shuts, every time darkness sets in and all hope seems lost and you’ve done everything you can do, you need to remember that God specializes in surprises on the other side of a closed door. May we learn to trust you God and have faith in you God, that even when we can’t see it, we know, that you are working for our good everything that happens in our lives.
