Childhood lessons are hard to shake.
Santa Claus. Do we continue to see the magic in Christmas movies?
Are we still afraid to sleep with the closet light off? Are clowns more frightening than funny? Moms should clean house, and dads are the yardwork people. Mom makes the cookies, and Dad builds the fire in the fireplace.
Mom says to wait until your father is home, and dad applies the discipline.
What if that changes? We show up, and Dad’s in the kitchen with the apron on. Mom’s pushing the lawnmower, and she waves as we walk by.
Do we dare trust the world any longer?
In the book of Acts, Paul attempted to settle a question about the gentiles, and the Jewish believers couldn’t get past the closet door. The Jewish rules had to be followed by all new converts. They had to, or the monster in the dark might jump out and get them.
In Acts 11:5, Paul closes the closet door:
“I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me.”
The question Paul and the believers were deciding is less important to today’s message than Paul’s final five words. It came even unto me.
These words carry extra weight, because not only does Paul proclaim what he saw in his vision, but he knew it was meant specifically for him.
There are times we need to shake off our childhood lessons. We need to close the closet doors, laugh at the clowns, and let Mom do the yardwork. When changes around us happen, we need to place a measure of trust in the provenance of God and his ability to guide us safely through all things that come our way.
The old ways aren’t always better. They’re just the ones we grew up with. When God says move on, let’s be willing to whip out our apron or build the fire in the fireplace, whichever God instructs us to do. Let’s be adaptable, because change is a part of life, even our spiritual one.
When God opens a door, we must find it in ourselves to trust him and step through.
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Code: FGO.E.15.17e.vp.kjv