The Knock on the Door: A Call to Action

The other night I was home alone.

At around 9:30 p.m. my dog began to growl, then suddenly I heard a loud, urgent pounding on our front door. Both the dogs began to bark, and I walked tentatively to the door, saying a prayer for protection. It was a windy, stormy night so when I didn’t see a car on our long, steep driveway, I felt a pang of fear go through me as I wondered who would be out walking. I slowly opened the door and said, “Hello?” No one was there. I got a flashlight, praying fervently now, and went out and shone it all around. No one.

I came inside and sent out texts for prayer. After I sent them, I began to hear the thought, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” I know this verse from Revelations and love the idea of us opening the door to Jesus so he can come in and share a meal with us.” (Rev 3:20 NLT) A few minutes later, I’d gotten two texts saying, “I prayed and sensed that it could be the Lord.” That surprised me, but instantly, I was peaceful. I had so much peace that I went to bed and slept soundly, forgetting all about the mysterious knocking until morning!

Interestingly, I heard from a friend in Brazil who, not knowing about my experience, told me about a loud knocking in his apartment, but no one was there. He knew two others who had the same experience. So what, it’s becoming a trend?

As I prayed into it, this is what I believe the Lord was saying through the urgent knocking. This isn’t a time for status quo living!

The Lord has much he wants to teach us, to experience with us, to train us to partner with him for . . . all because of his great love for us and for the world. When he came to earth to walk with his disciples, he created a sense of urgency. He knew his time with them was short, it would go quickly, every experience mattered for them to be trained in how they would walk with him differently after his resurrection, and Pentecost sealed Holy Spirit within them.

They now had power to become fearless witnesses rather than fearful disciples.

I love the story of Peter and how in fifty short days he went from the fearful friend who denied knowing Jesus to “common day servants” at his trial--they weren’t scary people, he had nothing to fear from them discovering he followed Jesus. But, fifty days later, he stood in the Temple Courtyard and gave the sermon of his life; calling forth 3,000 new Jesus followers.

A few weeks or months later, he was brought before the highest religious leaders. (This would be like us going before the Supreme Court). These rulers commanded Peter never again to preach or teach about Jesus. Peter didn’t shrink back in fear, instead, he boldly declared, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We can not stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

This is how I feel right now.

However,

Not everyone wants to hear my perspective on what God is doing through this season of history.
Not everyone wants to discover they have generational sins and curses that are literally sucking their life out of them.
Not everyone wants to uncover their generational blessings which have laid dormant for centuries.
Not everyone wants to press into the unfamiliar ways of God’s kingdom.
Not everyone wants to acknowledge we are in a transition close to the same magnitude as Pentecost.

The rules changed dramatically after Pentecost. Once again, Peter was on a roof, hungrily awaiting lunch. Suddenly, he had a vision of a sheet with all sorts of forbidden animals in it. He heard a voice speak, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat them.” He emphatically said “No, I’ve never eaten anything our Jewish law forbids.” The voice spoke out just as emphatically, “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”

It happened 3 times just for Peter to get the point.

God has a way of not giving too much notice when he is taking us into training ground (I don’t know, so maybe we don’t run away and hide!) After Peter sat on the roof in shock, trying to figure out what the vision and strange voice meant, a man appeared asking him to come to stay at the home of a Gentile. For those of us in the 21st century, that may not seem like a big deal, but to Peter it was a HUGE deal. Jews were forbidden from associating with Gentiles, let alone going to share a few days in their home.

But, Peter was a quick learner, and he realized his vision wasn’t about eating strange animals, it was about PEOPLE! God had in one fell swoop, changed centuries of protocol, and opened the door for the new Jesus followers to not only share a meal with Gentiles, but to live in community with them, planting churches in homes where they shared communion as part of every meal together.

So, to put it in 21st century context, this would be similar to inviting the leader of a gang for dinner, or praying with a Muslim, or starting churches with both Israelis and Palestinians as members, or dare I say, ardent Trump and Hillary supporters.

So, here’s what I am wondering: what’s happening with you?

Are you experiencing new things, or hearing new ideas, or getting urgent knocks on your door? Or, are you ignoring God’s new thoughts and ways and thinking that if you just put your head under your pillow or keep doing the same things you’ve always done, it will all go away?

It’s your choice, of course. But, here’s my encouragement to take a step towards the unfamiliar ways of God’s kingdom.
What if it really was Jesus knocking on my door?
What if I chose to not answer it because fear had me paralyzed . . . or I just couldn’t be bothered?

I believe I was created for this specific point of history and I have an important role to play as I partner with Jesus my King.

I also believe this about you. Your life has tremendous purpose and as you go through the training, just like Peter did, you can live the adventurous, unfamiliar, and wild life of faith that Jesus is inviting us to experience with him.

I’d love to support you because when we come together in atmosphere of unconditional support and learning, there’s no limit to how you and Jesus can change the world.