Closing the Door

      Saturday morning, I read a story from my Daily Bible about a door slamming shut. It was from Genesis, about Noah in the ark, verse 7:16 says “Then the Lord shut him in.” I had once written in the margin of my Bible, “We talk a lot about God opening and closing doors. Here is a case when God closed a door as protection … yet, I usually pray for open doors.”

      For my entire life as a believer I’ve heard the phrase, “When God closes a door he opens a window.” The idea is that if an opportunity goes away God provides another. It is meant to be a comfort when something we wanted gets closed down. In later years I learned a Quaker phrase, “Proceed as the way opens,” meaning in our pursuit of God’s life we seldom get to see very far in advance but we should simply move forward as opportunities open up. Both of those phrases have proven true for me at different stages of life.

      In Noah’s case God closed the door to protect Noah and his family. I wonder how often God has closed a door, slamming it shut, to protect me and my family? How many missed opportunities or regrets that seemed bad at the time were actually God’s grace?

      This was a door God closed to keep Noah where he was. To limit his movement. He wanted Noah to stay put, and he did it to protect Noah from the danger outside.

      I’ve read this Genesis story so many times and I’m still not sure what to make of it – of course I know what it meant for Noah and his family, but how do I interpret it for me and my family?

      Here’s the thing: I wrote that margin note on Thursday, January 4, 2002, three days after I lost my job. I had no idea where our family would land. I wasn’t worried, because I trusted God, but I was scared, because I didn’t trust myself.

      Unemployment wasn’t a big surprise. I had known the end was coming for quite some time – it was obvious the relationship with my employer had soured, and worse, it was during a financial downturn in the industry – I’d been applying and interviewing with other companies for months, with zero success.

      I wondered, in 2002, was the story from Genesis about God closing the door a sign telling me to stay put? Maybe. If so, it wouldn’t be the first time I got that message.

      God closed the door on us thirty-four years ago, sixteen years before I wrote those margin notes. It was a surprise ending to what I’d assumed to be an important career advancement, a challenging move to California, and what had seemed like a gift from God. It fell apart, probably due to some upper-management corporate scuffle, but for too many years I interpreted the collapse of the job promotion as a personal failure, evidence I didn’t measure up. That is, until about two years ago, when I finally understood God had closed the door to save us for a life and ministry in Midland that was deeper and richer than mere corporate advancement and management perks. It took thirty years after the door closed before I was old enough to see the truth … that God had rescued us, saved us, protected us. Just like he did for Noah.

      How about you? When has God closed doors to protect you?

“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32