When the Shadow of God Passed Before Me.

It

It happened one early evening in what began as a very ordinary moment.

I was in the bathroom when the door closed behind me. As it did, something suddenly passed before me. It appeared like a shadow, but I immediately sensed that this was no ordinary shadow. The atmosphere changed, and I became intensely aware of the presence of God.

Then something happened that I still cannot fully explain.

For nearly an hour, I could not open the door.

I stood looking at it, but after a while it was no longer merely a bathroom door to me. It had become a message. An ordinary object had suddenly become something God was using to speak to my heart.

The Door Remained Closed

I could not even bring myself to put my hand on the doorknob. Something within me knew: Do not touch it. So I waited.

What I did not know was that, at the very same time, something extraordinary was happening to Bonnie. Unbeknownst to me, she experienced what appeared to be oil covering her body from her chest upward toward her neck. Yet her clothing remained completely dry. And then, just as mysteriously as it had appeared, the oil disappeared.

Neither of us knew at that moment what the other was experiencing.

Meanwhile, I remained standing before the closed door.

Then suddenly something changed.

I knew I could touch the doorknob.

When I did, the door swung wide open.

And in my spirit I heard the Lord say:

“I have given you an open door. But do not put your hands to closed doors trying to open them.”

The message went straight into my heart.

There are doors God opens, and there are doors He permits to remain closed. I am not called to force every door, manipulate circumstances, struggle with people, or exhaust myself trying to make something happen that God has not opened.

There comes a time when we must take our hands off the closed door.

Revelation 3:8 declares: “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.”

That evening I understood those words differently. When God opens the door, we do not have to force it. We simply walk through it.

And when He has not opened a door, we must resist the temptation to keep turning the knob.

What happened with Bonnie at precisely the same time made the experience even more striking to us. While I was standing before a closed door receiving a message about what God would open, she was having an unexpected physical experience that she described as oil upon her body, though her clothing remained dry.

Oil throughout Scripture is associated with consecration, anointing, and being set apart for the purposes of God.

I do not want to claim more than we experienced or pretend that I understand every detail. But together, these simultaneous events left us with a profound sense that God was speaking to us about a new season.

Do not force the closed doors.Do not spend your strength trying to make them open.Recognize the door God Himself has opened.And when He opens it—walk through it.

Sometimes we become so occupied with the door that will not open that we fail to see the one standing wide before us.

Perhaps there are moments when faith is putting your hand on the doorknob.

And perhaps there are other moments when faith is knowing when to take your hand off.

That evening, I believe the Lord was teaching me the difference.I