…And the Lord shut him in. (Genesis 7:16)

It’s an interesting matter that it is not written that Noah shut the door of the ark before the great flood. God, Himself, shut him in.

Many of God’s people struggle in a “shut-in” season where you feel God is done using you. It is not so. Like Noah, there are seasons where God must protect you from outside influences and hold you imprisoned in His own heart for a time.

When it is safe, He will send word and you can roam again at will.

What if Noah had refused the hidden-ness of the ark. What if he had been turned by others mocking his crazy faithfulness to obey God.

What if He had been given the option of shutting that door? Perhaps God knew he would not be able to look upon a world and familiar faces he would never see the same again and remain obedient. His heart may have turned back, indeed.

Sometimes, God must shut us in with a door too heavy for us to open ourselves. At times, it feels we are forgotten or forsaken but we are only hidden in His hand until it’s our time to “show forth.”

God does not need us to kick down doors. He is the doorkeeper that either seals the door shut or opens it to us for a new adventure that begins at an appointed time.

Do not be sad if you find yourself shut in by the Lord. He has something to tell you in times of quiet and He is likely shielding you from harm in some way or another. It is part of your training. Learn what you can from Him during these intimate times.

You can trust Him. He has not overlooked you.