Hinge People in the Word Part II
When we lived in Kenya, we always had a “night guard”. This man would arrive as the sun set and remain outside, in our yard, until sunrise the next morning. Interestingly, if trouble had come in the night hours, we rarely heard about it. For the night guard took it upon himself to deal with it. He spent no time talking about what had happened in the dark hours — he simply did what needed to be done. We slept in peace (usually), oblivious to the harm we had been protected from. Snakes… animals… people… those were the foes he dealt with in the darkness. Do you see the correlation between a night guard in Africa and a hinge person?
Hinge people will draw no attention to the intense work they have done. A work that will help and protect both themselves and others.
Hinge people are human heroes in the spiritual realm. Sadly, they usually go unnoticed in the earthly realm.
When I first began seeing these people, I had no name for them. I encountered so many remarkable people who changed the course of lives by their willingness to oppose what had been wrong, step out of the darkness, lean hard against what would block them from moving forward, and by God’s guidance and under His hand — push towards the Light. Future generations are changed by the actions of one hinge person devoted to GOD. Wait — that’s a seriously important sentence — it warrants a repeat —
Future generations are changed by the actions of one hinge person devoted to GOD.
Every hinge person I have ever encountered has deeply touched my heart. I prayerfully asked God to help me understand these unsung heroes and it was He who gave me the term hinge-people. He whispered it into my heart. He reminded me of the scripture...
“What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
Revelations 3:7b-8
God stirred my heart to be able to see, that sometimes people encounter things in their life that have blocked them from being able to see, understand, and move forward. Sin shuts doors. Doors God would have wanted to remain open, but when sin enters in, God’s good plans are thwarted. These types of closed doors become huge roadblocks in life. It can be a sin we ourselves repeatedly commit, but so often hinge people are called forward, by God, to put their shoulder to a door that was closed due to someone else’s sin. The sin of a parent, grandparent, or even a spouse. The behaviors and choices of those closest to us matter a great deal especially when they impact our heart. When this happens, we can feel paralyzed. The door is shut, the way forward is blocked. Then so often God calls forward a hinge person; one He will use to apply pressure to the hinges as they together open the door. And for these people we must never ignore the holy words that say, “I know that you have little strength”. The Lord sees them, and will use them IF they, “have kept His word and have not denied His name”. He wants to come behind their “little strength” and apply His great ability to open doors before them.
God absolutely opens doors autonomously, without people — He is the Great One who opens and closes doors. And yet sometimes, he wants a person to participate in the opening of the door. Our “little strength” doesn’t hinder it from happening. Instead, our obedience to “keep His word and not deny His name” is what opens the flood gates of His great push to open shut doors that hold so many in darkness.
Hinge people are everywhere. One of the best places to begin recognizing them is in the Holy Pages. There are so many… but for the sake of time, I’ll share some that have encouraged me the most.
How about Moses...
A babe placed in a basket floating downriver beside crocodiles and hippos (I’ve been to the Nile — the presence of those animals should never be overlooked as we remember that baby.) After many events in life, he finds himself exiled from Egypt and for 40 years he tends his father-in-law’s herd in the desert. God wants a door opened… He wants His people freed… He could have done it with a breath... and yet He asked Moses to put his shoulder to the door and apply pressure to the hinges. God did the heavy lifting in every way. Oh but he used a man to put shoulder to the door of the bondage the peopleof Israel were held behind.
How about Ruth...
She loved Mahlon, her husband who died. She loved Naomi, her mother in law, who was broken and bitter with grief. She could have stayed in her homeland with her birth-family after her husband’s death. But she felt it right to remain loyal to her mother-in-law. She put her shoulder to the door and worked hard to find a new way in a new place. The reality of her journey was very, very challenging. Ruth could have stayed in old familiar places and lived in old familiar ways; much more comfortable. Instead she worked in foreign fields gleaning grain to care for Naomi. God opened the door, but oh her shoulder was on it as the hinges groaned and a new life came.
How about Paul who had been Saul...
He was headstrong in his determination to persecute and destroy Christians. He was in darkness. He didn’t even feel a wall, much less a door, for he thought he was right. God caused him to “see” the darkness he was in when he blinded him (for a time) with the brightness of His presence. Saul could have gone in many different directions when he was blinded on the road to Damascus. He could have refused to obey the instructions given him. But instead he “put his shoulder to the door” and obeyed. God was opening a door for Saul to become Paul…but Saul had to put his shoulder to the door and push against what had held him in darkness, so that Paul could emerge.
How about Abraham...
He was comfortable in his culture and surrounded by family. To have remained would have become a door in Abraham’s life, for God was calling him out. Imagine how differently history would read if Abraham had remained in Ur, where he had been born. Instead, Abraham put shoulder to the door God was inviting him to help open as he followed the Lord’s guidance and began a journey that would last a lifetime. Laced with promises from God — the effects of his working of the hinges are still spoken of today.
We could talk of Hannah and Samuel, Esther and Mordecai, John the Baptist, Jacob’s son Joseph, Priscilla and Aquila — and 11 of the disciples who walked with Christ.
We could spend hours writing about hinge-people found in the Holy Pages.
And then our reading would inevitably take us to the many people in scripture who did not put their shoulder to the heavy door in front of them and instead they went the easy, familiar, more comfortable way. Like Adam and Eve, Cain, Lot’s wife, Jezebel, King Saul and Judas Iscariot. Imagine if Judas had paused, hit his knees and cried out to God to help him… it’s possible his story could have ended very differently. Christ would have still given himself on the cross, but Judas could have been praying instead of betraying.
Those who have refused to push doors open under the arm of God have caused much pain. While, hinge people, who have worked according to God's guidance, have changed history, always for good.
We’re never more grateful for the light… than when we step out of the darkness behind a closed door — and into the wonderful Light. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
