This month, I launched a Kickstarter campaign in the hope of securing funding for the devotional based on the weekly Faithful on the Clock challenges. In a fairly short amount of time, it became painfully obvious I wasn’t going to reach my goal.
I moped in private for days. I’ve had moments where I doubted my path before, but this moment was a pretty big ouch. If God wanted me to use my words to help others, why had so many people who’d promised support bailed? Maybe my message really didn’t have value next to the more superficial, feel-good faith content.
I wanted to quit.
I even did the math, rationalizing about how I’d make more money at a fast food joint or grocery store.
But then two things happened.
First, I started editing a new project from a faith-oriented client. I could easily see how to polish what they already had on the page. I knew their content would make a difference. I knew that if I helped them complete their own work, they’d get back some of the confidence and direction they needed.
Second, in two hours of unexpected free time, I reread a draft of a book I intend to publish about reconnecting to God. I’d almost given up on it. But the more I read, the more I understood that the ideas weren’t trash. Just as I had with my client’s work, I could see the bones others would potentially cling to.
It is hard, when a door closes, to keep believing that you’re meant to keep moving forward, especially if you can’t even see windows you could crawl through. The assumption tends to be that, if the door closes, it’s not the right door. But sometimes, as Joshua understood in his repeated marches around Jericho, the door is the right one and you just have to trust God’s timing in giving you the key.
You might be facing your door moment today. Maybe you’ll face it tomorrow or five years down the road. Whenever it hits, don’t automatically give up. Walk around the city just one more time. See what happens.