There is a key behind closed doors that is accessible to every believer. Through diligent pursuit of God we can discover a life of fulfillment and reward in this life forsaking the strivings of our own flesh.
The Rewarder
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:6
What we are in private we will be in public. God so values the secret place with Him that when we seek Him in that private place He promises to reward us openly. In a world where everything is flaunted and pushed, God calls us to do things in a contrary way of the world. God is the promoter and rewarder. If we promote ourselves there is no reward left. Self-promotion is the way of the world. Those who manipulate people to get a place, position or power in this life man attain it through the flesh but there will be no reward when all is said and done.
For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Psalms 149:4
Our lives need to be lived for the Father’ pleasure. It is His heart and pleasure that we are after. When we learn to find our identity in Him and His affirmation then we will quit striving to attain it in our own strength. When it comes to the things that we have been entrusted with, we are to be good stewards. When God shows us something it is not necessarily for the whole world to know. Many times it is just for us individually. We have got to learn to keep it to ourselves, pray it in a secret place and let God do the promoting. It is His favor that surrounds us like a shield. If we really believe this then we will quit trying to make things happen in our own strength.
Seeking God For Fulfillment
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6:11-12
One of the basic lessons that all believers need to understand is the spiritual parallel story of the lives of Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael is what Abraham produced in his own flesh by trying to push things ahead of God’s schedule. Isaac is the child of promise that required faith and patience believing God for the fulfillment. God’s promises are obtained by faith and patience. Having hope in the scriptures we seek God in the secret place for the personal promises and beyond to be fulfilled by His Hand. It is through this process that we inherit the promises and avoid the superficiality of our own attempts to push the promises into existence through the flesh. Most of the time this involves pushing others into the flesh to get what we want, rather than seeking God and allowing Him to bring these things to pass. Sometimes the wait is much shorter than we even realize. Just as the children of Israel were in reach of the promised land, because they would not believe and allow God to give the victory through His power, they missed their opportunity and died in the wilderness of their own sin and choice.
The Open Doors
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.”
Revelation 3:7
David was a seeker of God. He knew the secret place (Psalm 91). A writer of 73 plus Psalms, his heart was a surrendered heart. Even when he failed he did not try to justify it but willingly took the penalty for his errors. The fact is that when we attempt to make things happen by our own strength it has a more far reaching impact. Just as when we choose to let God have control it has a multiplied blessing upon others, so it can also be a curse to others who participate in the things done by those who push in their own flesh. Jesus was revealing to us a major key in how to see things accomplished through His Spirit. Seeking God in the secret place, praying the promises – this is a foundational key that will open doors that no man can shut and shut doors that no man can open. It is not about us trying to convince others about how important we are, how gifted we are or how spiritual we are. It is about finding our security and identity in His affirmation of who we are in Him.
Being and Abiding
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Corinthians 5:9-10
One of the most powerful things we could ever learn is to learn to “be” who He has created us to be. Getting the revelation of who God already says we are and have is undoubtedly one of the most important things we could ever grasp. It is not about what we do but who we are already in Him. It is about our “abiding”, our “being” in Him. He is the only One we need to please. We live for His pleasure. We will find life a whole lot easier when we learn this simple truth. We are created for His pleasure, to be His very own treasured possession.
There is a key that opens doors waiting behind closed doors for every one of us. The time we spend with the Lord cannot be overvalued.