The Poundings on the Door

There are endless poundings on the door of my life. Maybe you can relate to that. There are people to listen to and care for. There are tasks to be completed and attended to. There are conversations to be had, checks to sign, reports to complete, and family to visit. All of these things are necessary, and most of them are good, but they pound on the door of our lives without ceasing. They call out to be let in and given attention. There are times when we grow so tired of the poundings that we don’t want to hear or take action. At best, take a Sabbath – a ceasing of activity – in order to rest. At worst, we simply shut down and cannot engage with others.

But, in the pounding and scrapings against the door, there is something else. “Here I am,” God says, “I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). Sometimes, even when we know it is the Lord Jesus knocking at the door, we are afraid of letting Him in. We are afraid that if we open the door to let Him in, other things may creep in at the same time – those other poundings at the door of our lives.

Jesus says, “If anyone hears My voice…” But there is so much other noise! We know He is speaking, but the other noise can at times be deafening. It is like the roar of a crowd at a rock concert or the din of a coffee shop at 7:30 AM. There are so many other sounds: voices talking, chairs scraping the floor, clomping of feet, music playing…where is His voice? How do we hear it? Even when we are externally quiet, there are the internal ‘poundings at the door’ that do not cease. And so, we must pray that He will calm our souls and pierce through the poundings with His powerful word.

Then Jesus says, “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with Me.”  For me, it is at this point that I have to stop and reflect. Have I heard His voice? Opening the door without hearing His voice will lead not to a meeting with Jesus but to chaos. The poundings – those things needing attention in our lives – will overwhelm us. So we stop. Have we heard Jesus through the poundings in our lives? Do we trust Him enough to believe that He is found in the things that clamor for attention: the tasks, the people, the jobs, etc.? Are we hearing His voice speaking to us and challenging us to lay down our fears and responsibilities at His feet? Are we hearing Him speak the word ‘trust’ when it feels overwhelming?

Finally, Jesus says, “I will come in and eat with them, and they with Me.” Then we can say, “Give us your daily bread…You are the bread of life that satiates my hunger and quenches my thirst” (Luke 11:3; John 6:35).

May our soul’s deepest longing be that we would enjoy communion with Christ. May we find Him satisfying our hungers and thirst with His presence.