When a Closed Door Became an Open Sky

In January 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied Marian Anderson permission to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., solely because she was Black. The finest contralto voice of her generation — a woman who had performed before the crowned heads of Europe — was told she was not welcome in a concert hall in her own nation's capital.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt responded by resigning her DAR membership in protest. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes then invited Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial instead. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Anderson stepped to the microphone beneath the marble gaze of Abraham Lincoln and opened with "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Seventy-five thousand people stood before her, and millions more listened by radio across the nation.

The DAR had meant to silence her. Instead, they gave her the largest stage in America.

Paul writes in Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" This does not mean we will never face opposition. It means no opposition can ultimately prevail against God's purposes. The very forces that rise against His people often become the instruments through which He enlarges their reach.

When injustice closes a door in your life, look for the open sky. The God who is for you has never been confined to the rooms others control. He specializes in turning rejection into a wider platform for His glory.