Finding The Exit

Being trapped in one place for a long period of time is quite a disturbing idea for me.

1 Samuel 19:1-24

Reference: v.12 So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. (TNIV Bible)

Explore: I hate walking into department stores. They are so cleverly designed that I can never seem to find the way out.

I rarely feel claustrophobic in lifts or planes, but put me in a large store filled with products and clothing and I start to get the jitters!

It’s silly really. I’ve never been stuck in a store before and, while it may have taken me longer than I would like, I have always found my way out of every store I’ve entered into.

However, the thought of walking down aisle after aisle and never seeing the light of day again, well, it scares me senseless. Being trapped in one place for a long period of time is quite a disturbing idea for me.

I never feel more relieved than when I see the opening of the department store exit and know I don’t have far to go before gaining my escape.

Application: I find this is true physically as well as mentally. If I don’t feel like I am moving forward with my life then I start to become irritated and need to find a new challenge.

This helps to keep me focussed on what is important and to never stay stagnating in an area that is not bearing fruit. Sometimes these new opportunities come with excitement. However, there are times when a new journey begins because there has been a painful death of an old one.

A cliché I recall is: When one door closes, another one will open.  Sometimes, however, the new opening looks more like a small window than a grand entrance.

No one knew that better than David. He was running for his life and, in the end, his wife saved him by suggesting he climb out the window.

Now, we’re talking about a great man here, a warrior even. There were songs already being written about him and a thousand men looked up to him as their commander. But even David had moments when the only opening available to him was a small window of opportunity.

The great thing about God is that He can take a small window and make it a portal into a great new journey. It doesn’t mean that pushing ourselves through the window is easy or painless, but it does mean that God is already there, waiting on the other side.

Prayer: Lord, give me the strength to push through to the next stage of my journey. Whether I need to walk boldly through an open door or to crawl humbly through a small window, may I uphold my integrity and continue to live in a way that brings You honour. Amen.

What does the next opening in your journey look like?

1 Samuel, David, door, exit, journey, path, window