Part of the miraculous transformation of being born again is that we receive the mind of Christ. Why? So we can let it lie dormant? No. So we can use it as God wants us to use it, in accordance with His Word.

Perhaps you are considering a new job, an opportunity you feel pretty good about in your spirit and which offers nothing contrary to the Word, but that doesn't make the figures work. It's just not going to produce enough income for you and your family.

I would suggest that God is speaking to you through your reasoning ability. It does not make sense to take a job you cannot live on. So unless that good feeling in your spirit is a solid knowing that God wants you in this job, pass on it. Believe Him for a job that will pay better.

Sometimes we spiritualize things so much that we ignore the good common sense God gave us. We have become too spiritual to pay attention to the gray matter between our ears. But that is why God put it there, and that is one of the ways He will speak to you, through your own natural reason.

When God is speaking to you to do something, it will make good sense from more than one viewpoint for you to do it.

Your physical senses can be trained to discern between good and evil. You do not have to close your eyes, float away, and try to forget what your spirit is saying. When you reach a certain point in the Lord, your physical senses can discern between good and evil because you have trained them to do so.

God directs us in the physical realm by what theologians call "providential circumstance." In more normal English, we call it "open doors." Satan opens and closes doors, too, because he is the prince of this world. He opened a door to Adam, who handed his God-given dominion over to the devil. You must be aware that God is not the only one who opens and closes doors.

But here is what I want you to understand about doors: God will not give you specific direction for your life and then keep the door shut. If you reach a certain point and that door is shut and will not open, either God has not called you there, or if He has, it isn't time yet. It's one of the two.

Many of us spend a great deal of time trying in the name of faith to kick down doors God does not want opened. When He tells you to do something, and you get to that point, then if it's God, the door will open.

When we were looking for a new building for our church, the first location we were really serious about was on a road near our present location. In the natural, this option appeared to be consistent with the Word of God. It bore witness with my spirit (The truth was, I wanted out of our old building so badly that I could taste it). And it appeared we could make it work financially.

But I couldn't get the door to open!

Every time we sat down with the owners to negotiate, another problem would come up. The city council got involved, and it looked like a solid dead end. Then all of a sudden, God finally got my attention: "That's not where I want you."

I immediately stopped pushing to acquire that space, and it was less than two weeks later that our current building became available. Just like that, every detail came together. The doors were open where He had called us to be.

That is a sure indicator of whether or not you are on track with God.

I know some folks who had a genuine call of God on their lives. They knew they were called to the ministry, but the doors were not open to them. Common sense and reason said it should have been happening. Even their good judgment told them they had heard from God. God did call them into the ministry, but closed doors were an indicator to them that His due season had not arrived.

God has a time and a season for everything. And it is important that you don't miss His timing. Wait on Him. Stay in faith. He will reveal His timetable.

Christians have a way of getting ahead of God. I know I have. We get impatient. We cannot wait to get out there and do what He has put in our hearts to do. But we have to understand that this is one of the main ways—providential circumstances, or open doors—that He will indicate when His timing has arrived.

God directs us through His Word and specifically through His inner witness, but He also guides us through open doors.

Source: Positioned for Promotion by Mac Hammond
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers