We have all experienced it: you see a good opportunity to help someone, to start a ministry, to do something for your community—and so you “go for it”… and nothing happens. Or worse, if falls flat.

Or, you think about doing something and seek confirmation—a sign an opportunity—that shows that this is God’s will in your life. And, nothing happens. No sign. No confirmation.

And, disappointment sets in. The doors are closed.

So, what do you do?

When I find myself puzzling over questions like this, I turn first to the Bible to see what God’s Word says about the questions and concerns I am trying to understand. Next, I look to the great Christian thinkers to see what their years of study has brought them to believe.

The scripture verse I rest in during these times is this: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called to His purpose.”

This is foundational in these times. The closed door. The silence of God. The lack of affirmation. The inability to move forward. None of these is unknown to God. And, even with these pieces of what feels like “nothingness,” God will work them together for good.

We can rest in this. We can KNOW that if we truly are open to God, He is still guiding us, though perhaps not in the direction we had hoped or expected.

Then, turning to one of the great Christian minds—Charles Spurgeon—on this very issue, I find this, “When troubles come, it is of no use to fly in the face of God by hard thoughts of providence; that is kicking against the pricks and hurting your feet. The trees bow in the wind, and so must we..”

Spurgeon is telling us to resist the temptation to think ill of God or to try to push our way through a door that He doesn’t want us to go through. “The trees bow in the wind, and so must we.”

Continuing with Spurgeon, “…if one door should be shut, God will open another.”

Here is real hope: Other opportunities will happen. Other doors will open.

Continuing, “if peas do not yield well, the beans may; if one hen leaves her eggs, another will bring out all her brood. There’s a bright side to all things, and a good God everywhere. Some where or other in the worst flood of trouble there always is a dry spot for contentment to get its foot on; if there were not, it would learn to swim.”

Spurgeon is urging us to see that things do work out. “There always is a dry spot for contentment” even in the moment when things aren’t going the way we choose. I have taken this insight from Spurgeon to heart and tell myself, “Maybe this is a good time to chill a bit and just take a break. Do simple things that lift the heart. Not take myself or my own desires so seriously.”

Spurgeon adds, “Friends, let us take to patience and water gruel, as the old folks use to tell us, rather than catch the miserable and give others the disease by wickedly finding fault with God. The best remedy for affliction is submitting to providence. What can’t be cured must be endured. If we cannot get bacon, let us bless God that there are still some cabbages in the garden. ‘Must’ is a hard nut to crack, but it has a sweet kernel. ‘All things work together for good to them that love God’.”

Following Spurgeon’s advice, the best way to move forward is to be grateful for what is good in our lives, even when things aren’t moving our way, and to know that endurance and gratitude pay off eventually with the “sweet kernel” - the satisfaction we have been seeking.

God truly does work all things to our good.

Keep knocking. No need to break down the door. He will answer.