Trap doors. The universe is full of them. C.S.Lewis understood that when he wrote a little children’s story about a simple, homely wardrobe in an abandoned upstairs room that became the entryway to another world. This was no mere literary device on his part, to get Lucy from England to Narnia; there is something deep and spiritual afoot.

Ted Bundy, hours before they executed him in Florida, told James Dobson about the trap door that got him: pornography. He was just a kid of 12, and he and his buddies found a magazine in the alley in his neighborhood. Why Satan’s door will suck in one and not another is a mystery. But he has lots of different trap doors.

There are the notorious ones — internet porn, the bottle, the slots casino, astrology. But there are unlikely ones too — prescription pain medicine, the mall, love of horses, a love of art collecting. Makes no difference to Satan. “Soft underfoot” is as good as suicide.

I have known of men who fell through trap doors never to be heard of again. But by God’s grace, I have known of men who fell through trap doors, and after getting beat up by Satan for years, were graciously rescued by God.

God provided other trap doors, so that they stumbled into grace unawares. Some of those grace doors were unlikely too. Like prison. Which Satan no doubt meant as a trap for his kingdom, but which God co-opted for his own kingdom. Praise His unsearchable wisdom and mercy!