Word.ws English Dictionary

when God closes a door he opens a window

when God closes a door he opens a window proverb: although God allows challenges, adversities, and constraints to occur in one's life, He also provides other ways for one to survive and feel satisfied; (loosely, in either literal religious use or figurative nonreligious use) although one faces challenges, adversities, and constraints, there is always some other way to survive and feel satisfied; (moreover) something that seemed like a dispiriting setback may yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

when god closes a door he opens a window: although God allows challenges, adversities, and constraints to occur in one's life, He also...
Image: Winslow Homer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Proverb

when God closes a door he opens a window

  1. (usually religious) Although God allows challenges, adversities, and constraints to occur in one's life, He also provides other ways for one to survive and feel satisfied; (loosely, in either literal religious use or figurative nonreligious use) although one faces challenges, adversities, and constraints, there is always some other way to survive and feel satisfied; (moreover) something that seemed like a dispiriting setback may yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Questions about when God closes a door he opens a window

What does when God closes a door he opens a window mean?
When God closes a door he opens a window means although God allows challenges, adversities, and constraints to occur in one's life, He also provides other ways for one to survive and feel satisfied; (loosely, in either literal religious use or figurative nonreligious use) although one faces challenges, adversities, and constraints, there is always some other way to survive and feel satisfied; (moreover) something that seemed like a dispiriting setback may yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
What part of speech is when God closes a door he opens a window?
When God closes a door he opens a window is a proverb.

Words near when God closes a door he opens a window in the dictionary

  1. when all is said and done
  2. when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail
  3. when America sneezes, the world catches a cold
  4. when as
  5. when everything is said and done
  6. when God closes a door he opens a window
  7. when heck freezes over
  8. when Hell freezes over
  9. when I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck
  10. when in doubt, do nowt
  11. when in Rome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: when God closes a door he opens a window (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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