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Aug 19, 2022 18:30pm

When One Door Closes, Another Opens

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Have you ever wondered how astronauts eat in space or what they eat? There is actually a stove where they can heat things, which was shocking to me! They can’t have salt or pepper because it could just float away, clogging air vents or pipes. With no refrigerators on a spaceship or station, food has to be non-perishable and carefully calculated. Each meal has to be planned out in advance to make sure there is enough food for the trip. They take just enough to be able to provide for their daily needs. But can you imagine what they have waiting on them when they get home? No more of those packaged meals. Hot, steamy, home-cooked food awaits. Delicious, creamy desserts. Fresh fruits and vegetables and cold glasses of milk. Although what was provided for them on the spacecraft was good and gave them what they needed to live, when they made it home, there was something even better for them.

The Israelites camped at Gilgal awaiting their entry into the land of Canaan and healing from their circumcision. They have just renewed their covenant with God, signifying their commitment to following Him. The old has been cut away and the new life remains. That’s why God called the place Gilgal because He had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off of them.”

In our text today, we find them preparing and observing the Passover. They are in a foreign place with no way to grow their own food or provide for themselves, but it’s been like that for the last 40 years. God had provided manna, or bread, from Heaven for the people. It was just enough for what they would need that day and nothing more. It was good and provided nourishment, causing the people to learn to rely on God for their daily bread, their daily life. As we see in chapter 5, God had something even better in store for His children.

“And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” (Joshua 5:12)

God’s provision for the people didn’t stop, they just changed. As one door that held something good closed, another opened that held something even better.

This was the promised land! This was their home God had sworn to them! The land flowing with milk and honey! As a kid I literally thought that meant there were rivers of milk and honey dripping from trees. But it means the land was plentiful, the soil was rich for planting, the crops would grow in abundance. They would work hard, but they would eat of the fruit of the land that very year.

What a promise!

You may feel the Lord closing a door to something that’s been good. Something that has been comfortable, something that has always been provided for you. This is when fear wants to creep in. Anxiety sets in about what’s next, what will you do, what will the future hold? But the Lord promises to provide. And just like with the Israelites, when one door closed that held something good, another opened that held something even better.

When our days on earth are few and we know life will come to an end, the thought of death can be scary. But if we have put our trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord, our provider, we can be assured that when the door to this good life has closed, something far greater awaits us behind the door to Heaven!

Trust in Him to provide for you today and tomorrow! Follow Him wherever He leads! You never know what wonderful things await you when you finally make it home!