When my children were small, they were playing with their cousins. It was the hottest part of the summer and the front door continuously opened and closed when the heat got too much for them. It was so hot, even the bugs decided to come in and cool off. I interrupted the children’s play long enough to say, “You can either play inside or outside, but do not open the front door again.”
Together, the playmates chose to stay indoors. A short while later, movement outside the living room window caught my attention. The little ones were running and playing outside. Confused, I went to investigate. My son proudly informed me that they didn’t open the front door, they went through his bedroom window.
Sometimes, we walk through doors only to realize we are trapped once it closes. Maybe you’ve heard ‘When God closes a door, he opens a window’. That is precisely what happened to David, the two spies with Rahab and Paul. They walked through a door, unaware that they wouldn’t be able to walk back out and God literally opened a window for them to escape.
David made the mistake of marrying the daughter of the man who wanted him dead. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. 1 Samuel 19:11-12.
When the Israelite spies in Jericho were in danger of being found and killed, Rahab trusted their God and came to their rescue. So Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. Joshua 2:15
And Paul in the New Testament was able to escape arrest and possible death through a window as well. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. 2 Corinthians 11:32-33
In each case, God opened the window after the door was barred shut. Here is how we can be assured that God opened the window to preserve their life versus these individuals running from a tough situation. God didn’t just provide a window, he provided help getting out of the window. None of these three acted alone; they were not running away, they were being delivered. There is a big difference. Usually, if we want out of a situation that God intends us to walk through, then there is no assistance being lowered from the window.
Sometimes even with the best of intentions, we wind up behind a bolted door. Once we are there, we must seek the heart of God to discern whether this is a door we need to learn a lesson behind or if he will send someone else to lead us to a window. And as always, we must rely on God’s wisdom to stay on the right side of any door!
