Automatic doors are a wonder, aren’t they? A camera eye senses when someone draws near and signals to the door mechanism to open and allow entrance. Then with a soft-spoken “whoosh,” the door closes.

“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you,” the Bible tells us. The working out of that promise is sometimes like automatic doors, though. Not the kind with a door knob.

In His wisdom, God operates the automatic door from His unseen position high above the scene. No matter how many doors we’ve pounded on, how many doorbells we’ve rung, how many times we’ve thumped a shoulder against an immoveable wooden door, we can’t seem to find entrance to our dreams.

But the Lord–knowing better than we do where we need to go and which dreams are worth pursuing–waits and watches. When we draw close to the “right” one, He nods and the door opens automatically before us.

For safety reasons, at our local airport, one set of half-circle curved automatic doors open to a person exiting the plane and heading for baggage claim. That set is sealed again before the next set in front of the traveler opens.

That, too, is reminiscent of the way the Lord often works with His children. For their safety, He opens a set of doors, then asks His follower to wait until that door closes behind, sealing him off from the past, before opening the next set of doors to the future.

For writers: Although we’re responsible to keep knocking on doors in our writing pursuits, we can be assured that when we near the “right” door, from God’s perspective, it will open before us.

For readers: Do you feel that every door you try (in relationships, career, even spiritually) seems locked and barred? Are you frustrated that nothing seems to fall into place for you? If you allow Him control of your life, the doors WILL open. And it won’t be because of how brilliant you are or how you muscled the door open, but because the God who loves you is watching. When you get close to the right door, you won’t have to push against it. It will open wide to allow you to walk through.