God opened to the Apostle Paul Four Doors of Opportunity. These were:
1. The Door of Faith. God opened this to non-Jews through Paul’s preaching during his first missionary journey (Acts 14:27). This door was one through which the apostle entered fully and finally in Acts 28:17-29.
2. The Macedonian Door. This opened to Paul in a night-time vision (Acts 16). It prompted him to cross over to what is today the European Union (EU).
3. The Great and Important Door of Ephesus (Acts 19; 1 Corinthians 15:32 & 1 Corinthians 16:9). Paul fought “wild beasts” at Ephesus — men driven by savage, animal instincts. Despite them, powerful city-wide effects rocked the city, over which the pagan goddess Ishtar had long reigned.
4. The Door of Witness. This door opened to Paul in the court of Nero — the “lion” of 2 Timothy 4:16-18, and from whose “mouth” he was delivered (Colossians 4:3). Paul was later killed by Nero’s order only after he had “fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith”, and so was ready to receive “the crown of righteousness”.
On entering Open Doors of Opportunity, we will encounter much opposition from demons dressed in people; however, in defeating them, we will experience the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people bound by them. We will see God’s kingdom established in “regions beyond” (2 Timothy 4:7-8 & 2 Corinthians 10:16).
But only if we respond to the opportunities our Lord Jesus opens to those who exercise their God-given faith and ‘exit the old and enter the new during this Year of Open Doors.