An open door, but...

For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. - 1 Corinthians 16:9

Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus where he was ministering. He told the Ephesians that he was going to stay there serving until Pentacost. The reason was clear - God had opened a door for him there. 

Open doors of ministry are great opportunities. Praise God for them. 

But, and there is always a but, along with open doors often comes the other side. 

And there are many adversaries. 

We need to be aware that just because we see an open door doesn't mean it is all going to be smooth sailing. When we walk through that door we need to remember that there is going to be opposition. There are going to be adversaries. It is not always going to be easy. 

On the other hand we need to remember that just because we see opposition it doesn't mean that the door is closed. 

We just need to remember that an open door doesn't necessarily mean a smooth road and if the road gets rough it doesn't necessarily mean the door is closing.