“When God closes a door, He opens a window.” Log that one among everyone’s favorite Bible verses not found in the Bible. Where does this saying come from anyway? Well, you can thank Rogers and Hammerstein for the phrase the way we have it. In “The Sound of Music,” the main character Maria says, “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.”
Hey, maybe you didn’t get that job or the house you wanted and your dreams did not come true. But cheer up! When God closes a door, he opens a window! You know, it sounds like you just said God’s way is not as great as your way.
Have you considered that maybe God shut your door because He wanted you in the house when it came down? That’s the part we don’t like to think about. We don’t want to imagine that God would ever make us go through anything hard. But 2 Corinthians 1:9 says this is to “make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Romans 8:29 says it’s to make us more like Christ.
James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Rather than saying, “When God closes a door, He opens a window,” consider Psalm 37:23-24, which says, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand,” when we understand the text!
