Child Lock

As I watched a car pull opposite us on a bus stop, I noticed a child on the back seat by himself while the parents were in front. The first thing which crossed my mind was “what if the child opens the door while the car was moving”. Then I remembered that cars are fitted with child locks, and that put me at ease. A child can’t anticipate danger, and that’s why the parents are there to foresee any possible danger and keep their child safe from it.

This reminded me that I’m God’s child. Sometimes, in the busyness of life, or due to my curiosity, I might fall into danger, but I do have a Father in heaven, and He’s looking after me. As He pre-warned Cain in Genesis 4:7, ‘Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you’.

Sometimes we might be trying to push certain doors open, but it’s not safe for us that they should open. Sin might be crouching at the door waiting for it to open. It might be that you’re trying to push through on a deal, a business partnership, or even a certain friendship, but nothing seems to work. And there might be some doors we’re trying to close, but they’re meant to be open so we can grow in the Lord or reach out to others.

It could be that God is keeping us safe from a danger He foresees, but which we can’t. He’s put 'child lock' on, for our sake. Balaam couldn’t foresee the danger lying ahead of him, and he tried to push his way through (Numbers 22). But there was a ‘child lock’ in the form of a donkey which wouldn’t move forward. If the donkey had moved forward, the angel of the Lord was ready with a sword to kill Balaam. For Balaam was headed in a direction which was against God’s will, and about to sin. Sometimes that door which isn’t opening might be keeping us from sinning, (and the wages of sin is death).

The door, which the Lord closes, no one can open, and it could be that He’s closing it to keep us safe. So, don’t be frustrated if a door isn’t opening at the moment, because there may be a time when it will.

When the parents reach their destination, the parent will come and open the door for the child. In the same way, when we come to a safe place, we find the Lord opens the door for us and no one can shut it, for it’s a safe door for us, as His child, ushering us to our destiny.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the fact that I’m Your child, and You’re my loving Father. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, help me to stay within Your safe parameters. Thank You for the doors You’ve shut in my life, and thank You for the doors You’ve opened in my life, which indicate You’re looking after me. Give me patience with the ‘child lock’. Please close any door which needs to be closed, and open any door which needs to be open in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.