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I had a friend once tell me of a phrase in the Doctrine and Covenants, that “an effectual door shall be opened for them.” (D&C 118:3) For some reason those words just stuck out to me as a comforting thing. The message was that God would open up an opportunity for me to have the success I sought.
Let’s look at the whole verse:
“Let the residue continue to preach from that hour, and if they will do this in all lowliness of heart, in meekness and humility, and long-suffering, I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth.” (D&C 118:3)
A door might mean an opportunity in this case. An effectual door could mean an opportunity that actually works and is effective. I love the imagery of seeing the Lord open up a path for us.
To me, this concept is much easier to see in hindsight. It is easy to look back and see how the Lord’s hand was in my own life. He put many wonderful people and experiences in my path. He gave me many opportunities to grow in wonderful ways. Looking back at my life, I feel grateful for the many ways God opened effectual doors for me and my family.
In contrast, there is another interesting use of the word effectual that I found in Mosiah 7:18. In this verse, King Limhi, the leader of a group of Nephites in bondage, is given hope that they might escape and find help in Zarahemla. He praises God for this opportunity, and then says, “yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made.”
An effectual struggle sounds like there is hard work ahead, but it has a sense of hope. Effectual seems to mean that the struggle will eventually pay off. It’s kind of the message that it will be hard, but we will make it.
There are trials we have in life that require an effectual struggle. Sometimes prayer, church attendance, scripture study, etc. are really not enough. I know in difficult circumstances, like addiction or trauma recovery, or in struggling with loss, abuse, or mistreatment, it is helpful to have many resources to help out.
A very spiritually minded person might wonder if they can just handle something by trusting in God alone. I have wondered that. In my personal life, it took me time to realize that I just needed more help from experts and people around me to overcome some difficult challenges. It’s my personal opinion that God wanted me to learn to rely on His children for help. I believe that God sent us here to help each other out, and that He can give us the help we need through others.
So, in both circumstances, effectual doors and effectual struggles, I believe that God delivers us by means of other people. We can also be that door or help for other people. We are not meant to struggle on our own. Jesus Christ organized a church so that people could work together and lift each other. He wants us to learn to give and receive help.
I encourage you to look for those effectual doors and struggles in your life. How has God sent that help or opened doors for you? How can you open doors or provide help in someone’s struggles? Ultimately, we are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. He enables us to be His disciples.
