When God closes a door, we want to know why.

We want to see the purposes behind God’s twists and turns immediately. We hate to think it make take a lifetime to see His reasoning. Rarely do we consider that these pivots could be part of a much larger story, one than spans generations.

What if the blessings for our obedience do not come to fruition for us, but for our children’s children’s children?

There are so many points in the story of the Israelites that we could close the book and say that God’s chosen people lived happily ever after. But none of those endings would be sufficient. Even now, thousands of years after the final word of the Bible was written, we can still witness God’s chosen people continuing the story that started in the Old Testament.

Jacob didn’t know that stealing his brother’s birthright would allow his sons to become the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph’s brothers never guessed that selling him as a slave would result in their family’s salvation during the famine. Joseph never knew that bringing his family to Egypt would result in 430 years of slavery. Hundreds of years of faithful obedience with no answers during the characters’ lifetimes have shaped a story far beyond their limited comprehension.

Their story will not be complete until Jesus returns, and neither will ours. The Bible may be finished, but the pen in God’s hand is still poised over the paper. The ink is still wet. He is still writing, still creating story arcs for each us that weave into the grand narrative. The same God who called out to Moses from a burning bush is calling to you and I. Within our hearts we feel the fire as He calls us by name, beckoning us to step away from everything we treasure and pursue Him wholeheartedly. He is urging us to move forward, to let go, to sacrifice, and to obey all with a single purpose. He wants us to know Him and love Him above all else.

So simple, and yet, it often takes a closed door to shift our focus back to Him.