The Door God Opened Twice
A Devotional by Nina S. Jones
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psalm 139:14 (KJV)
Have you ever said no to something God was actually trying to give you — not because you couldn’t handle it, but because saying yes meant becoming a beginner again?
I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing the first time they offered me that promotion. I knew the work. I knew my people. I had built a rhythm I could move through with my eyes closed, and if I’m honest, I loved how safe that felt. So when the opportunity came, I turned it down without losing a single night of sleep. I told myself I was being wise. Grounded. Content.
But underneath that story was a truer, less flattering one. I didn’t want to be new at something again.
The Couch Called Comfortable
Comfortable is a sneaky thing. It doesn’t show up looking like a problem — it shows up looking like peace. It doesn’t announce itself as a cage. It announces itself as a couch, soft and familiar, and it convinces you that staying put is the same thing as being faithful. So that’s where I stayed, and I never lost a night of sleep over it. Not until the door opened again.
When they came back and offered me that same role a second time, something in me didn’t slam the door shut. I told them I needed to think and pray on it — and in that small hesitation, I felt God buying me a little room to actually listen. While I sat with it, my question changed. I stopped asking, “Can I handle this job?” and started asking, “What would this job need to look like for me to say yes?” That’s a completely different question. One comes from fear trying to survive. The other comes from a woman who knows she’s allowed to ask for more than survival.
Far Above Rubies
So I did something I had never done in my whole career. I went through that offer line by line, and where it didn’t yet fit who I was and what I actually did well, I wrote down what would need to change. Then I reviewed the compensation, and I made a counteroffer.
I sat there with my finger over the send button while an old, familiar voice rose up — the one that says wanting more is greedy, that a good woman just takes what she’s handed and says thank you. I thought about a verse I’d tucked away long before that moment:
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10 (KJV)
Her price. Not her permission to be paid. Not her hope of being noticed. Her price — already settled, already far above what anyone else might offer. I hit send.
Then came the waiting. A couple of quiet days, and you know how the enemy loves a quiet couple of days. You overplayed it. Now they think you’re difficult. But I had already done the hard part — I had already agreed with what I believed to be true about my own worth before anyone else weighed in on it. The answer came back. They accepted every bit of it. And I was promoted.
I want to be honest with you, though — it could have come back no. I never want to hand you a formula and call it faith. But even a no wouldn’t have unsettled what I already knew. It would have told me more about them than it ever could have about me.
Grace Takes Inventory
Here’s what I want you to sit with today. Knowing your worth is not arrogance. It is agreement — simply agreeing with what God already declared true about you before you ever opened your mouth to ask for anything.
When we shrink ourselves to fit what’s comfortable, we’re not practicing humility. We’re disputing the One who made us. We’re looking at His marvelous work and quietly calling it ordinary. I did that. I sat in a role I could do half-asleep and called it contentment, when part of it was simply fear wearing a nicer name. And in His mercy, God let the same door open twice.
A Word Just for You
I wonder how many of you are standing in front of your own door right now — one God has already opened once, maybe more than once — waiting on you to stop calling your fear “peace” and finally walk through it.
You don’t have to be loud to be sure of yourself. I didn’t storm into anyone’s office. I wrote a respectful, professional email and meant every word of it. Confidence doesn’t have to raise its voice to be firm. It just has to stop negotiating with what it already knows.
Your Grace Check
Take a moment today and ask yourself:
Where have I been calling it “I’m content” when the truer word is “I’m scared”?
Write it down. Sit with it. Then take honest inventory — the years, the relationships, the problems only you can solve — and remember that God wrote that list long before you ever did.
A Grace Prayer
Lord, forgive me for the doors I’ve let close because I was more comfortable with fear than I was with growth. Thank You for Your patience — for opening the same door twice when I wasn’t ready to walk through it the first time. Teach me to agree with what You’ve already said about me, and give me the courage to ask for what You’ve already called me worthy of. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 💛
Enjoyed this devotional? Watch the full video on my YouTube channel — Say Your Grace Real SOUL Talk — and subscribe so you never miss a weekly serving of grace, hope, and Real SOUL Talk.
Want to go even deeper? My book, The Harvest of Hope: Sowing Seeds From My Broken Pieces, is available now on Amazon. There is something in those pages for you.
And no matter what life throws your way — always remember to Say Your Grace. 💛
— Nina S. Jones
Founder & CEO, The Say Your Grace Initiative
