Facing the Unknown

Continuing my look back... From June 3, 2006...  I was thinking today after re-reading this, about how that when God shuts the door, we are always looking for the next door to open... but sometimes there is a delay, or no new open door. Sometimes God is simply saying "NO!"  Sometimes he is saying, "Stand still! This is where I want you!"  We can kick open doors that God has shut, and when we do, we reap the mess that we have brought on ourselves!

Facing the Unknown

This week my role as Pastor put me into a situation with a young lady that has had me thinking ever since. In an instant, this young woman found her life turned upside down and inside out and feeling so alone and afraid.
One minute she was looking at the prospect of being a bride in less than 2 weeks. She was beginning a new job in just a few days. But then a whirlwind of events took place and the wedding is off, the relationship severed, the job is out of reach, and what appeared to be smooth sailing had left her in a heap, crying in my arms, sobbing, "What will I do? Where will I go? I have nothing?"
Words I could offer at that time were not going to help. In her mind, life was over. We know that it really isn't over, but I am quite certain that is how she saw things.

We've proabably all been at a few crossroads in our lives where it seemed life as we knew it was over. When all of a sudden we are faced with the uncertain or unknown.
The unknowns of life can be quite scary and challenging.
They can also be quite rewarding. 
This morning I was praying for this young lady and then I began to do some reading and I found myself reading from the seven chapter of Genesis... the account of Noah and the ark, and God began to speak to me about this woman; about all of us, facing the uncertain or the unknown.
I know this is a strange correlation, but stay with me.

Picture yourself for a moment as Noah or one of his family members who watched the animals all board the ark, and then you entered the ark and suddenly, the door is closed.
Notice that you did not close the door.
The Bible says that God closed the door. And now you suddenly find yourself inside this big, box. You really don't have any idea what is going to happen next or even what the end result is going to be. God has not told you that. These people had no idea what was going to happen. They have never seen rain before. They knew they trust God, but something tells me that a bit of fear and doubt might have entered their minds about this time. They are filled with uncertainty and unknowns. Suddenly they were trapped inside this giant box with a bunch of stinking animals and they had no control over their lives whatsoever. Again, they were trusting that God had a plan, but they had no clue what that plan was.

Can you imagine how they felt as the rain came and they felt the ark begin to float out of control; all the while hearing the screams from people they had known on the outside and there was nothing they could do to help them?
I imagine that their time on the ark was a very busy time with all those animals to care for, still I reckon their minds raced with questions of "What will we do now? Where will we go? What is going to happen?"
Their future was a vast unknown.

We all face unknowns. We wonder if the new job will work out, or if the old job is going to hold out. We wonder and fill our minds with "what ifs" and we can find ourselves slipping into doubts for our lives if we are not careful. Or, we can make the decision to know that God is in control and that He is guiding us in our present circumstances and situations too, and simply trust him and get on with life.

Life is filled with unknowns, but it does not have to be uncertain.
I may not know what tomorrow holds... but I am certain about who holds tomorrow.
I may not know how I will get there... but I do know that my God will get me to the place he has promised.
We need to rest in this fact: God has saved us for a reason... and it was not to sit and watch us fail or die on another day. We need to trust him that he knows what He wants to accomplish in our lives.

Remember, he shut the door on Noah and his family... but when it was time, He also opened the door to a whole new life.
He will do the same for us if we will trust Him and not try to kick open doors that He has closed.