Michael BUSH Mentoring Academy (MBMA) opened two Saturdays ago for 2025. It was particularly exciting to have the young men and women back in the weekly classes. Of greater excitement, and one hopes this attracts no envy, was seeing the freshers, Class 2025, who all looked like people I had always known. Last Saturday, returning students (mentees, really) were given the opportunity to suggest what they would rather was the focus of this space today.
It was Mr. Zion Bassey of Class 2023 who won bragging rights. He suggested and it was adopted what you are reading now. Many open doors are not an answer to a prayer. You should not walk into every open door.
Before pushing the conversation into gear two, it behoves all of us to be on the same page vis-a-vis what open door means. Open door in this context is all about favour: total acceptance or unprecedented generosity or restricted access. For instance, in this age of lousy politicking in Nigeria, a Nigerian in Nigeria convinces another local compatriot that their leader (call him godfather) wants them to crosstitute to another party to herald or prepare the ground for his own crosstitution. Of course, thousands of millions (sorry, hundreds of millions) of naira is released by only-God-knows-who and shared across all strata concerned.
Thinking this is the long-awaited open door (after decades of toiling in politics to no avail) both men complete with tens of thousands of their followers changed political parties formally and publicly -and noisily. From the spoils of crosstitution, those who didn’t have coconut heads went on to build a big house or two or to buy a big car or two, or both. To drive home their new status, they held ungodly thanksgiving services in their churches, during which they gave moving testimonies to thank God for the open door but spent far more time eulogising their political mentor. However, they ended up waiting for Godot because February that godfather was to cross over and join them became March and later April and much later another February, another March, another April.
The story later developed K-leg, a twist that confirmed that the whole thing was nothing near an open door. The way things happen in politics Nigeriana, with the speed of light, godfather had in the process of time found a tool that would serve his ego and pride much better than crosstitution. So, he quietly chickened out of that plot and allowed his forerunners to stew in their political cul-de-sac. As we speak, those men and women are stranded in a political strange land, abandoned, beggared and bitter.
As we speak, their matter is now beyond be-careful because that same godfather now thinks them traitors. Desperate to prove he never was disloyal to his party nor that he didn’t provide the untold funds squandered in the political stillbirth, he never fails to seize every opportunity to mock the “John the Baptist” crosstitutors. But political wisdom shall prevail in the nick of time; it always does. Already, I hear that the failed crosstitutors are plotting secretly day and night to recrosstitute one of these days.
Don’t be deceived, my dear. The grass is not really so greener elsewhere. That open door could be a mirage, it could be a trick of the devil. The prodigal son thought he had his open door architecture all figured out; alas, until he ran back to the same family house he thought was a curse every door remained closed against him!
Beware, most open doors are not for you. Joseph, in the Bible, had this understanding and that is the reason he fled -without looking back- from the tempting open door or rather the irresistible sexual thoroughfare that Potiphar’s wife offered him. Ditto, Daniel, and clearly that is why he turned down the king’s sumptuous cuisines and wines. You cannot not flee from or cannot not ignore or cannot not reject some open doors, some openings, some so-called favours because not all open doors, not all openings, not all favours are a favour or a gift or work of grace.
An alarming percentage of these fake golden opportunities or these false typologies or these Greek gifts come directly from the king of deceit himself, Satan. This is the chief reason you should never tire of double-checking and more before jumping headlong into grabbing what you think is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. That nincompoop never gives one thing to someone sans forcefully or indirectly taking 10 from them. He comes to steal, to kill and to destroy; never to add or to bless or to fix.
Too many people innocently, joyfully walked into what they thought were open doors. Too many children of God ate what they thought was manna; something they had no business touching let alone eating. Too many of our friends and niblings and siblings collected letters of admission or of appointment or of employment or of introduction or of partnership, which they thought would add value to their lives, but instead those same letters devalued them big time -most of them all the way to death.
Be careful enough to exercise restraint and to be prayerful over all enticing offers before deciding whether to accept. If the business idea or marriage proposal or travel opportunity sounds too good to be true, chances are 80 to 20. Sssh, be calming down first. If you have the spirit of God in you, listen; I say listen.
Some open doors are actually closed to the children of God but greed pulls too many of them into that dragnet. Children of the spirit fall for the antics of the children of the world. Such a crying shame of a tragedy, the strong falling for the weak. Immunise yourself, dear brethren: listen and study to imbibe knowledge that is the truth, renew your mind and, no matter the pressure they pile, never ever overreach yourself.
On the other hand, children of God must realise that all closed doors by the devil are their inheritance. They must deploy the knowledge they have from the word to exercise authority or power to instantly clear that affliction and open such doors. This calls for no negotiation because Jesus already finished the work. Recall that Joseph’s brothers thought they had closed every door to his dreams of rulership by selling him into slavery but isn’t that how he found himself in Egypt where he would become Prime Minister?
At this juncture, there is a critical perspective we must open up. Children of light should be smart enough to understand that some closed doors, some darkness, some rejections are for their own good. Joel Osteen once narrated how he tried unsuccessfully, for a long time, to pull what he thought was a tray table on a small plane, because he needed to write. He was overjoyed when he eventually found out he had been trying to open one of the plane doors all along!
The lesson there is that if you try and try and try again but it is not a goal, let it be. Most times, your open doors do not need so much effort to click. Also, just as some open doors may lead to your Waterloo and some closed doors your elevation, a little wisdom should whisper in your spirit when occasionally you come across what seems a doorless wall. Learn to ask, to seek, to knock and humbly and patiently and sweetly when everything looks gloomy.
You are God’s: you can never fail, for always. You can never be rejected, forever. You can never lose, for good. Your Team Captain is a winner, permanently -so are you.
Therefore, celebrate and enjoy grace. 2025, the year of magic, is for you. Ensure that any gift, any invitation, anything that makes your innerperson abused or alarmed, reprehensible or restless, uncomfortable or unstable is not a good open door for you. Don’t take it.
And, once you don’t, another one or many others, better and bigger, shall arrive. No open door gift should make you allow any other human being to treat you like an animal. No open door opportunity should make you develop high blood pressure. No open door work should accord any man or woman the licence to talk down on you, privately or publicly.
God bless Nigeria!