Photo: courtesy of the author, Hexham Abbey, Northumberland, England.

I was listening to a radio show today when the announcer told a story about Noah. He discussed how Noah spent years and years planning his journey -- building the boat, finding the animals, storing the food, etc. -- but, at the very last minute, needed help to make the final move and actually leave shore. Perhaps he was a little stuck with all his hard work and preparation -- it had been 120 years after all! -- or perhaps it was harder than he thought to say good-bye to the world he knew. Whatever the reason, it was God, not Noah, who shut the door of the ark. It was God who needed to shut the door and send Noah on his way to higher ground.

"And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in." (Genesis 7:16)

Artwork: Noah's Ark/The Flood, French Manuscript Illumination, c. 1250.

I remember a time when I needed God to shut a door too. I was once headed down a wrong path in my life but I was too weak to do anything about it. It was God who came and shut the door because I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. He shut the door for me so I could get off the wrong path and back on the right one. Sometimes we need God to shut a door so we can move ourselves to higher ground.

I needed to hear this story because, like Noah, I have become a little stuck myself with all my preparations for retirement. Like Noah, I have been building my ark and filling it with everything I might need. So. Many. Things. I've been worrying about rain but unable to leave. Do I have enough provisions?  Is my family taken care of? Will I have enough to do? What about all those animals?? 

And, like Noah too, I feel as if I've been working this boat for about 120 years! I've been busy making sure it's watertight and full of all the right stuff but I never feel like I'm quite ready to leave the shore. I think I need to hear God say, like I imagine him telling Noah: "Enough, Noah, enough. You got it right. It's time to go. I will keep you safe and take you where you need to be."

So, like Noah, I'm going to trust the Lord that, when the time is right, he will let me know. He will shut the door and move me on to wherever it is I need to be next.