The Wall For Which I Should Give Thanks

Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. Psalm 31:4

I have often found myself hemmed in.  I didn’t see it coming.  I traveled along, thought things were fine as I acted upon the advice of well-meaning people, but I ended up at a dead end nonetheless.  I tried to re-trace my steps to find someone to blame only to discover that my way was shaped by well-meaning companions who were also doing the best they could to dispense advice.  They just weren’t God.  So, I stood in a place where it was impossible to go forward and equally impossible to go back.  It was as if I ascended a mountain through switchback turns and the only way was forward. 

Perhaps you know what I’m talking about.  You probably also know that while we rail and fret, God is listening.  It isn’t our anxiety that brings Him to the scene to start problem solving.  He knew long ago that we’d be here.   He went ahead and put everything in place to make a way of escape.  His sovereignty allowed the trap so He could devise a glorious solution for our salvation and His glory.  What’s difficult to see is that the trap is really our friend.  It seems preposterous that it’s our doorway to glory, but it is! 

Traps are illusions.  Traps take us to hidden doors that only God can see.  Traps lead us to God’s arms.  Traps show us that God is the hero of our story.  Traps reveal the brokenness and limitations of the people around us.  Traps reveal the power and glory of our Father.  Traps end one way of life and introduce us to a better way.  Traps offer us the chance to embrace new spiritual paradigms.

Perhaps what I’m cursing under my breath is really something for which I should give thanks. I also need to stop looking for what I think salvation will look like and ask God to give me supernatural vision for the door that leads to spacious places.  This wall is God’s window to my future.

I will stop crying and dare to believe.  Amen