Last week, we talked about not forcing doors.
This week, I think there's another side to that lesson:
Sometimes we need to pay attention when God opens a door we weren't even knocking on.
After the story I just shared about the YMCA property, you can probably understand why I've been thinking about this lately.
I had plans.
Buying the YMCA wasn't one of them.
In fact, my answer was a pretty definite “No.”
More than once.
Apparently, God wasn't terribly concerned with my first answer.
I've learned over the years that some of the greatest opportunities in my life weren't things I went looking for. Sometimes they appeared in ways I never expected, at times that didn't necessarily make sense, and occasionally after I had already decided I wasn't interested.
Robin Sharma talks in The Everyday Hero Manifesto about remaining open to possibilities and opportunities we may not have anticipated.
I think faith asks us to do something similar.
Make the plan.
Do the work.
Be responsible.
Use the brain God gave you.
But somewhere in all that planning...
leave a little room for God to surprise you.
We Can Only Plan With What We Know Today
I am a planner.
I like knowing where we're going, how we're going to get there, how much it's going to cost, who's responsible for what, and preferably what we're going to do next.
But there's one little problem with that.
I can only plan with the information I have today.
God sees what I can't.
He sees the person I'm going to meet next month.
He sees the opportunity that hasn't appeared yet.
He sees the problem I don't know is coming.
He sees the door that isn't even visible from where I'm standing.
And He sees how all those pieces fit together.
I don't.
If God showed us the entire plan at once, maybe we'd be overwhelmed.
Or, if you're anything like me, we'd immediately start trying to reorganize it.
I know which one I'd probably do.
Maybe that's why He so often gives us the next step instead of the entire map.
Sometimes “No” Is Just Our First Answer
I've said no to things that later became very important parts of my life.
Sometimes I said no because the timing seemed wrong.
Sometimes because I couldn't see how something could possibly work.
Sometimes because it wasn't part of my plan.
And sometimes...
I just wasn't interested.
I've learned that there's nothing wrong with saying no.
But there is something wrong with becoming so convinced that we know the answer that we stop listening.
Sometimes something keeps coming up.
One person mentions it.
Then someone else does.
Then another person does.
Eventually you have to stop and wonder:
"Okay, God...am I supposed to be paying attention here?"
That doesn't mean every coincidence is a message from God.
It doesn't mean we should chase every idea or jump at every opportunity.
But maybe we should pay attention.
Pray.
Ask questions.
Gather information.
And remain open to the possibility that God's plan may look completely different from ours.
Sometimes the first step isn't saying yes.
Sometimes it's simply saying:
“Okay, God. I'm listening.”
Faith Doesn't Mean Leaving Your Common Sense at Home
I think this is important.
Faith doesn't mean making foolish decisions and expecting God to fix them.
It doesn't mean ignoring the numbers.
It doesn't mean failing to ask questions.
And it certainly doesn't mean every crazy idea that pops into my head came from God.
That would be dangerous.
God gave us brains.
We're supposed to use them.
Do your homework.
Ask for advice.
Look at the numbers.
Consider the risks.
Pray.
Then make the best decision you can with the information you have.
Faith and wisdom aren't opposites.
I think they work beautifully together.
Wisdom helps us evaluate the opportunity. Faith helps us move when we can't control the outcome.
Pray Boldly
This is the part of the YMCA story that has stayed with me.
The final day of the auction, our pastor challenged us to pray boldly.
Not just a comfortable prayer.
He challenged us to pray for something so boldly that if the prayer were answered, there wouldn't be much question about where the answer came from.
I laughed out loud.
Literally.
Because I knew exactly what I needed to pray about.
The opening bid for the YMCA property had been $375,000.
No one had bid.
And I had offered $200,000.
That's quite a gap.
I went forward during prayer time and explained to our pastor why I had laughed.
And we prayed.
Boldly.
The next day, the YMCA board met.
The following afternoon, I learned they had accepted my $200,000 offer.
And now...
We've closed.
Sometimes I think our prayers are limited by what we believe is reasonable.
We look at the numbers.
We look at our resources.
We look at the circumstances.
Then we decide what God can probably accomplish within those boundaries.
Think about that for a minute.
We're telling God what's reasonable.
There's nothing wrong with being realistic.
But there's also nothing wrong with praying boldly.
Bold prayer isn't demanding that God give us what we want.
It's saying:
“God, this is bigger than I can do. If this is Your will, I'm trusting You with it.”
And then being willing to accept His answer.
When You Look Back, You Begin to See a Pattern
The YMCA isn't the first time I've experienced something like this.
Tomorrow's Promise is celebrating 29 years, and when I look back over those years, something amazes me.
Every location has a God story.
The very first place we rented.
The properties we've purchased.
The buildings we've added.
Every single one has a story behind the story.
There were obstacles I didn't know how we were going to overcome.
There were times the numbers didn't seem to work.
There were doors that shouldn't have opened.
There were circumstances I couldn't possibly have arranged myself.
And somehow...
God made a way.
I couldn't always see what He was doing while I was standing in the middle of it.
That's the interesting thing about faith.
When you're looking forward, you have questions.
When you look backward, you begin to see a pattern.
After 29 years, I can look back and see God's fingerprints all over the story of Tomorrow's Promise.
And now we have another building.
Another impossible-looking situation.
Another answered prayer.
Another story to add to the collection.
Maybe that's one of the reasons I can have faith about the things I can't figure out today.
I've seen what God has done before.
And when I don't know what He's doing next, I can look backward and remember that He has always been faithful.
Your Challenge for the Week
| Focus | What to Do | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Look Back | Think about a time when something worked out in a way you couldn't have planned. | Remembering past faithfulness strengthens today's faith. |
| Pay Attention | Notice an opportunity, conversation, or idea that keeps resurfacing. | Sometimes we overlook possibilities because they weren't part of our plan. |
| Pray Boldly | Ask God for something beyond what you can accomplish alone—and then trust Him with the answer. | Bold prayer reminds us that the outcome isn't entirely in our hands. |
You don't have to understand the entire plan.
You just need enough faith to take the next right step.
A Lesson I'm Still Learning
Last week I told you that I'm learning not to force every door.
That's difficult for me.
When I see something that needs to happen, my natural instinct is to figure out how to make it happen.
But now I'm learning the other side of that lesson too.
While I'm busy pushing on the door I think should open...
I need to make sure I'm paying attention to the door God may be opening somewhere else.
There are things in my life right now that haven't happened the way I planned.
There are dreams I've had to set down for a season.
There are pieces that haven't fallen into place yet.
And then...
There are opportunities I wasn't looking for at all.
That's the interesting thing about faith.
We love telling these stories afterward.
Once everything works out, we connect all the dots and say:
"Look what God did!"
But while you're living it, the dots aren't connected.
You're usually standing there looking at one little dot thinking:
"Lord, I have absolutely no idea what You're doing here."
I've been there more times than I can count.
And I'm there in some areas of my life right now.
But after 29 years, I've learned something.
I don't have to understand everything God is doing in order to pay attention to what He's putting in front of me.
Sometimes my job is simply to say:
“Okay, God. I'm listening.”
Final Thought
Make your plans this week.
Set your goals.
Do your homework.
Work hard.
Use good judgment.
But don't hold your plans so tightly that there's no room for God to put something unexpected in your hands.
Pay attention to the conversation you weren't expecting.
The opportunity you initially dismissed.
The person who keeps showing up.
The door you weren't looking for.
You don't have to chase every possibility.
And you certainly don't have to call every coincidence a miracle.
Just stay open.
Last week we talked about having enough faith not to force a closed door.
Maybe this week we need enough faith to notice when God opens one we weren't even knocking on.
Because every once in a while, God does something so unexpected that all you can do is look back, shake your head, smile, and say:
“There is no way I could have planned that.”
After 29 years, I have quite a collection of those stories.
And now...
I have one more.
Apparently...
God wasn't terribly concerned that I wasn't interested in buying the YMCA.
References
- Sharma, Robin. The Everyday Hero Manifesto. HarperCollins, 2021.
- Proverbs 16:9.
- Proverbs 19:21.
- Ephesians 3:20.
- James 4:13–15.
- Matthew 19:26.
Remember... life isn't changed by one big decision. It's changed by the little decisions we make every day. Today's small choices become tomorrow's legacy. So choose wisely, love deeply, keep learning, and keep growing. Until next Monday, have a wonderful week... and keep building your legacy, one small choice at a time.