Come Out of Hiding

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Rev 3:20

This morning in my Bible Study Angela Thomas-Pharr, author of Stronger, was writing about a time when she had isolated herself. She tossed her own experience into the community of the broken. She summed up that ‘Wounded broken people cross their arms, shut their doors, and turn people away. Maybe their angry…or embarrassed…or trying to cover up sin. But I’m pretty sure underneath it all is a wound that has never been healed.’ P. 137.

I immediately remembered a time when I was so broken when one of my children was pursuing darkness. Year after year, I accepted the prayers of many and received overwhelming support and encouragement from friends and family. But at some point, even receiving love became too much work so I chose isolation. I wrote my extended family who had done nothing wrong but fervently prayed, unconditionally loved and continually lifted me. The letter was asking for space instead of fellowship and silence instead of communication. They all obliged my request to be alone in my despair. But one day Mother and Daddy stopped by and knocked on the door. I was so fractured in my experience I remember not wanting to open the door…not wanting to see the concern in their eyes…not wanting to talk about the ‘cancer.’ But gently they kept knocking and with tear-filled eyes I opened the door. With their arms around me the hardness of my heart melted. It felt so good to allow myself to be loved by them. They didn’t bring the solution to my problems, and they didn’t know the words to say to make my situation seem less dire. But what they did was soothe a broken heart when I had asked for distance. What they did was to remind me that God was carrying Kristen and all of us by giving me a framed reminder of the beautiful story of Footprints in the Sand.

God is that Father gently knocking on the door of our heart when we have locked ourselves in. He is the One who won’t leave until He comforts us. ‘One of the things I love about the Lord is that He never stops pursuing. We may close our heart and close our mind and close ourselves off from His love, but He keeps coming after us. He is not deterred by grumpy people or locked doors. His love is stronger than the one who just wants everyone to leave them alone.’ Stronger, p. 137. So, if you are on one side of the door and Christ is gently knocking on the other side, remember that when the disciples had locked their doors, Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. Nothing can stop the love of God and no one can deter His pursuit of us.

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:7-16