Shut In By God

Genesis‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭16

“On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Freedom to be able to move about and come and go is the desire of most people. They do not want to be boxed in a small space. Some are even very scared of small, crowded spaces. This fear is even greater when there are no open windows to see out. The space is made to feel even smaller than it really is.

Having freedom to be able to move, to come and go as one desires, gives one a sense of control and power. When a person does not have that sense of control and power, there is usually fear. It is a fear of the unknown on the other side of the walls. It is a fear that one cannot control what may or may not happen. There is no escape.

Notice, in the instructions that God gave, Noah was to build a door in the side of the ark. Just one door. This one door is the only door through which any humans or any animals could enter into the ark. There are representatives of every kind of animal present, and they all have to come through this one door.

God will sometimes enclose the believer in a box or an ark for a time. They cannot get out of the closed space. They cannot seem to move beyond the horizon. It appears as though nothing is happening. Yet, God is still there.

Storms will arise all around you at times. During some of those times, God will close you in to protect you from that storm. You may see or hear the storm raging, but you are not destroyed by it. God is inside that closed space with you until it is time to be released to move on to the next thing in life.

Noah was shut in away from all the world by the Hand of divine love. The door of electing purpose interposes between us and the world which lieth in the wicked one. We are not of the world even as our Lord Jesus was not of the world. Into the sin, the gaiety, the pursuits of the multitude we cannot enter, we cannot play in the streets of Vanity Fair with the children of darkness, for our heavenly Father has shut us in.

Noah was shut in with his God. "Come thou into the ark," was the Lord's invitation, by which He clearly showed that He Himself intended to dwell in the ark with his servant and his family. Thus all the chosen dwell in God and God in them. Happy people to be enclosed in the same circle which contains God in the Trinity of his persons, Father, Son, and Spirit.

Let us never be inattentive to that gracious call, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee, and hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpast." Noah was so shut in that no evil could reach him. Floods did but lift him heavenward, and winds did but waft him on his way.

Outside of the ark all was ruin, but inside all was rest and peace. Without Christ we perish, but in Christ Jesus there is perfect safety. Noah was so shut in that he could not even desire to come out, and those who are in Christ Jesus are in Him for ever. They shall go no more out for ever, for eternal faithfulness has shut them in, and infernal malice cannot drag them out.

The Prince of the house of David shutteth and no man openeth; and when once in the last days as Master of the house he shall rise up and shut the door, it will be in vain for mere professors to knock, and cry Lord, Lord open unto us, for that same door which shuts in the wise virgins will shut out the foolish for ever. Lord, shut us in by thy grace.

Do not fear when God shuts you in for a time. Trust that He knows what is best and wait for Him.

I pray today that you will know God’s work in your life, that you will not fear the storms in life, that God will reveal how He is protecting you and that God will close you in to carry you to a new place in life. Lord use my friend to be the light of Your love to all today.

Father, we love You. Amen !