Oh, I know this too well. I am
trying to refrain myself to avoid a whole post on this issue. But the reality
is that God keeps asking us over and over again to give Him permission because
He refuses to force Himself on us.
This verse of Revelation 3:20 is
not only for the unbelievers, but for us Christians too. Not because God cannot
do the work without our permission, but like Paul mentioned several times in
his writing, God wants us to offer ourselves up voluntarily as a living
sacrifice on a daily basis. We ought to remember that it is a daily battle
where we choose Him over and over again as our Master while we yield completely
to Him.
When the eyes of your heart open
you can see so many people out there that God has tried to bring to a place
where they can be broken by Him. But, they get nothing out of the experience
with God. They end up suffering for nothing because they would not allow God to
do the work within. As such, they come out of the experience, broken in all the
wrong places and they never know what healing from God’s point of view means.
It took me a long time in the
wilderness to understand that He wants us to invite Him in, and that it was His
way of glorifying Himself as well, every time we say yes to Him and to the work
of salvation within. Our yes to the work within means we understand the
salvation He is offering and appreciate the price it cost Him. It means we
value it. It means we reaffirm our love and so on. I still remember after all
the time I spent in the wilderness with Him, when it was time to teach me the
abiding process in 2009, He gave me the option. This in itself is a long story
and an unforgettable experience on how He walked me through it. But as we
remain surrendered into His hands and abide in Him, we truly delight His heart
as we allow Him to glorify Himself through us.
I better stop there…..
Invite Him In
courtesy of http://ransomedheart.com
There is a famous passage of Scripture which many people have heard in the context of an invitation to know Christ as Savior. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…" (Rev 3:20). He does not force himself upon us. He knocks, and waits for us to ask him in. There is an initial step, the first step of this which we call salvation. We hear Christ knocking and we open our hearts to him as Savior. It is the first turning. But the principle of this "knocking and waiting for permission to come in" remains true well into our Christian life.
You see, we all pretty much handle our brokenness in the same way - we mishandle it. It hurts too much to go there. So we shut the door to that room in our heart and we throw away the key - much like Lord Craven locks the Secret Garden upon the death of his wife, and buries the key. But that does not bring healing. Not at all. It might bring relief - for awhile. But never healing. Usually it orphans the little girl in that room, leaves her to fend for herself. The best thing we can do is to let Jesus come in, open the door and invite him in to find us in those hurting places.
It might come as a surprise that Christ asks our permission to come in and heal, but he is kind, and the door is shut from the inside, and healing never comes against our will. In order to experience his healing we must also give him permission to come in to the places we have so long shut to anyone. Will you let me heal you?He knocks through our loneliness. He knocks through our sorrows. He knocks through events that feel too close to what happened to us when we were young - a betrayal, a rejection, a word is spoken, a relationship is lost. He knocks through many things, waiting for us to give him permission to enter in.
