Peace of Mind and Support

It takes greater courage to say no to an open door for the Lord in the face of no peace than to say yes in the face of difficulty. What do I mean by this? 

We face many good opportunities that may very well benefit the furtherance of the gospel, but not all open doors are meant to be walked through. It is only the open doors where God provides peace and support that produces God-fueled accomplishment.

This is seen in church leadership and in parenting.


In church leadership we face many needs – desperate needs in the community and in the body of Christ. The temptation is to start ministries that will provide for these needs. The temptation is to act on the need before seeking God’s peace and His support first. Yes, these needs are open doors for the Lord to work, but they must accompany peace of mind and support. God never intends for us to move forward in ministry without His peace and without His provision of leadership and manpower. When these two lack, we travel through open doors with stress, anxiety, frustrated success and limited resources. In many cases, these new found ministries fail as a result.

In parenting, we are offered a plethora of great opportunities for our children to experience. Yet, not all of them are to be encountered. Again, the key is peace and support. Ask yourself, is this opportunity going to rob me and my family of peace? Is it going to support peaceful relations between parents and children? Is there support for these endeavors? Support comes in many forms such as time, financial resources, and parental agreement. Again, when we lack peace and support in our family undertakings, we only set ourselves up to embrace the enemies of love: assault and withdrawal. Out of stress, we either assault each other with words or we withdrawal from one another in anger and frustration. We pick up the baton of fault-finding and blame and we distance ourselves from what matters most: relationships and ministry to people.


Paul was a man of God who had the courage to seek God’s peace of mind and His support before He walked through open doors of ministry. On his way to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, Paul “…found that the Lord had opened a door for him. But Paul had no peace of mind, because he did not find his brother Titus (support) there. So, he said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).


Notice that the Lord opened the door for Paul to preach the gospel, for God’s heart is for all people to know Him and be saved. But Paul also recognized that the open door had to also accompany peace of mind and support of a partner in the ministry. These two lacked while in Troas. As was with the case in this story, there are many who need the Lord, many who are desperate for the word to be preached to them and there are many ministries that are needed in our community. But it is fruitless to attempt ministries without support of people and peace of mind. God provides all three and we must seek them all when meeting the needs of others in our churches and community and when choosing experiences for our children: open door – peace of mind – support.


Lord, may we be as courageous as Paul and only walk through the open doors You provide with Your peace and Your support. We aim to have God-fueled success not man pleasing feats. Increase our faith to wait for Your timing and Your endowment of all resources needed. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.