What do we do when we're pursuing something good, something that seems completely consistent with God's will — and the door still closes?

In this sermon from Durango Vineyard Church, Pastor Brian continues through Acts 16 as Paul and his companions set out to do exactly what Jesus had called them to do: preach the gospel and build the church. Yet twice, Scripture says the Holy Spirit prevents them from going where they intended to go. Only after those closed doors does Paul receive a vision calling them toward Macedonia instead.

Brian explores the uncomfortable reality that following Jesus will sometimes challenge our logic and rationale. What looks like failure from our limited perspective may actually be God's redirection. Drawing from his family's years-long struggle with infertility and Isaiah's reminder that God's ways are higher than ours, Brian suggests that God isn't irrational when His plans don't make sense to us. He simply sees from a perspective we don't possess.

So how should we respond when the door won't open? Brian offers four questions for discerning God's direction: Is it the right thing? Is it the right time? Is it with the right people? Is it being pursued in the right way? Sometimes God's "no" may actually be protection, preparation or simply "not yet."

And Acts 16 provides a remarkable example of what might be waiting on the other side of that redirection. Paul eventually reaches Philippi, where he meets Lydia, whose heart is opened to the gospel and whose home becomes part of the foundation of the church there. The roadblock wasn't necessarily the end of the mission. It may have been the way God led Paul toward the mission He had prepared.