Writing Words That Outlive YouSample

Open Doors and Opposition

We can all get behind a wide-open door of opportunity. It makes me think of an offensive line in a football game creating a huge hole for the running back to go through. A TV commentator might say something like, “Man, you could have driven a semi-truck through there!”

There are some doors in life that God opens to us that are just too obvious not to walk through. We want to hang around where God’s hand is obviously at work, especially if we can play an active role in it with things like our call to write.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, we find these words,

“In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.” - 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (NLT)

The Message translation puts it this way,

“For the present, I’m staying right here in Ephesus. A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here.(There is also mushrooming opposition.)”

How many of us wouldn’t want a ‘huge door of opportunity for good work’?

But what about the opposition part?

When we go back one chapter, we get a little more detail about Paul’s time in Ephesus,

“And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead?” – 1 Corinthians 15:32a

And for full context regarding this opposition Paul faced in Ephesus, you can read Acts 19:23-41. In a nutshell, a silversmith named Demetrius stirred up a riot by accusing Paul and his companions of trying to make their god Artemis irrelevant and diminish its influence. At the root of this was the threat of losing business and livelihood.

But why would Paul want to hang around a place like this?

One reason is that Paul considered it a privilege to suffer for Christ (Philippians 1:29)

Another reason is that opposition is a sign that the work (our writing) we do is being effective. I would even argue that the more fruitful and effective our work for the Lord, the fiercer the opposition.

Paul is such a good model for us as Kingdom writers. We need not be discouraged when we face opposition from an enemy and a world opposed to our Kingdom message.

Perhaps we can form a muscle memory response of considering it a privilege and blessing when opposition arises rather than immediately going to discouragement.

As priestly pens in the hands of the Author of Life, you and I can continue being on the lookout for those wide-open doors of writing opportunity along with any opposition that may follow.

What are some of the ways you have experienced opposition as a writer?