The Closet

      The Closet was written somewhere between the passing of my oldest son and the adoption of my youngest son. It was in that space of time that God revealed Himself to me, holy, powerful, all consuming, able to rescue us from the darkest places, hope giving, Father.  We are never left alone if we dare to trust His presence and providence.
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     There's a closet in my home where the Shekinah glory of God resides.  It's down a narrow hall, last door to the left. That's my son's room.  Within the room, the closet rests.  Shekinah---His presence. It bears repeating--- The presence of the Glory of God.  His presence does not go unnoticed. It does not go unmarked. It is the place where miracles happy---where the impossible transpires. We have seen the hand of a mighty God within the confines of a hollow space.  God filling a hollow space, He's good at that.
     Shekinah presence led the children of Israel to the Promised land, destroying armies, giving provision, parting the sea, leading day and night. His glory is not found in boot strap moments. It's found in the deserts of life, the moments only He can  heal, the moments that are empty of self, the hollow moments. He fills the hollow spaces.
      The closet knew Shekinah glory in the mere seconds that pass while passing between life and death--our boy, received into the presence of the Father. He slipped from death into life. God did not miss the moment. He was present. He was in the hollow space. He filled the space.
      Shekinah glory thrusts itself into the horrific places, the places we are too weak and too human to claim.  It thrusts itself into a closet that was meant for destruction. It thrusts, saturates, permeates itself into a broken home, into broken hearts of flesh,  those that could only bring themselves to sleep in the farthest reaches of  a home, far away from the closet, piled all in one space. It was a hollow space. He filled the space. He's good at that.
      Shekinah glory, the presence of the Glory of God, surrounded a mother, dragging herself to claim the closet, holding the hand of Glory. Her Father met her in the floor of the closet.  Some days were numb, others weeping. Some days were anger and rebellion. God did not miss the moment.  He was present. He filled the hollow spaces.
       It is He who began to change the hollow space of the closet.  Shekinah glory calls us into obedience.  His kind of obedience demands love.  It is how we know He has been in a space. He propels us to lands far away, across ocean and continent. He calls us to fill the hollow spaces.  The empty, long neglected places of an orphan. Of course, He's really filling the spaces. He's good at that.
      There's a closet in my home where the Shekinah glory of God resides. It's down a narrow hall, last door to the left.  That's my sons' room. Within the room, the closet rests. It overflows with toys, baskets of shoes, half hung clothes, and a pile of hand-me-downs---awaiting another trip across ocean  and continent, another orphan-- and life, yes, life.  It comes from a little boy. He has my heart, but not my DNA.  It's the kind of life that comes from empty spaces being filled. That's how we know He's been there.  He fills the hollow spaces.  He's good at that.