Today, God is inviting us deeper. Into a deeper understanding. Into a deeper relationship. Into deeper grace and deeper peace. What you currently know is just the surface of what he has available for you. Come deeper.
It’s easy for us to read all the stories in the bible and just keep them as stories. Stories we were told as kids. Stories we hear in church. Stories of things happening to people long ago that seem outdated and unrealistic for our lives today. Seas don’t stand on their end to let people pass any longer. 9 foot giants don’t fall when boys throw rocks today. Water doesn’t turn to wine in 2021. Our people now don’t just get up and walk after being crippled for 30 years. Animals don’t just line up to get on a boat when it starts raining … heck I can barely get my dog to drop the stick to play fetch.
Why did all of these miraculous things happen back then, but we no longer see it today? Is life so different now that God no longer works in the ways he once did?
Well let me tell you, God is timeless. He always was and always will be. His power has not run out. He hasn’t grown tired. He isn’t taking a break or catching his breath. Our world has gotten busier and louder, with more distractions. It’s hard to see what God is doing because we’re so enamored with a darn 15 second video on TikTok, and after that video there’s countless others just waiting for your hungry eyes to be fixed on. It’s hard to hear God’s voice because we never take the airpod out of one ear. It’s hard to recognize God’s answered prayer because you’ve moved on to the next thing before acknowledging what he did for you already.
Is God still working?
YOU BET HE IS!
Is God still doing the impossible in our midst?
ABSOLUTELY. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
Can he still make giants fall? Can he still make a way through the sea? Can he still heal and restore? Can he still turn nothing into something? Can he still align the miraculous?
YES!
Can we be still long enough to experience it? Can we look up from our phones to see it? Can we turn off the noise to hear him? Can we stay in the moment long enough to know it’s him?
My sister, God is calling us into a deeper relationship with him. Deeper than the surface where we’ve been hanging out. Deeper into knowing the stories of the bible as more than just stories, and seeing them as a playbook of God’s ways. An outline of his love that is still alive and well here in our lives today, and his power that is still on display and touching every area of our reality.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7 “Knock and the door will be opened to you.” Maybe we’re not really knocking, we’re barely pecking at the door. We’re so hesitant to come on into what God really has for us, that we’re just tapping. Maybe you want God to do something in your life, or maybe you don’t because what would that require of you?
Oh, if we’re being honest you know you’ve wrestled with that fear. If you really surrender it all to God, what will he ask you to give up? What crazy place would he take you and what impossible work would he request of you? How much of what you love would you have to exchange for what God is asking of you?
That’s why we tap on the door. We’re scared. Scared to knock, because what if he really opens it?
What we have forgotten is the truest and deepest desires within our heart are put there by our creator to begin with. He gave you your deepest desires as a seed to bring you to your life’s purpose. He’s not going to rip your heart’s greatest desire right out of you as some cruel act of fate. He’s going to show you the way to those deep desires and use everything for good.
Another reason we hesitate to really knock on the door is we play little. We dismiss our God-given dreams as unimportant. We assume the position as ‘less-than’ because it’s much easier to be a ‘less-than’ than it is to be a ‘greater-than’. But my sister, God has called you to be a ‘greater-than.’ Greater than what has happened to you. Greater than what you came from. Greater than what you’re going through now. You’re not honoring God by shrinking back and playing little. You’re greater than because the Great One lives within you!
It’s time to knock on that door girl. Don’t be afraid. Boldly knock. Knock loud. Tell God you’re here and you’re ready. The tapping days are over.
When we really believe God still parts seas, we stand boldly at the edge of the water and know He is going to make a way.
When we really believe God still opens wombs and fulfills promises, we keep knocking, and darn it we knock loud.
When we really believe God still heals, restores, and renews, we pound on that door.
These aren’t just stories. These are the plays of God. The actions he has taken in the unfolding of the details of lives. The faithfulness he has proven. The power he has unleashed.
And your story is being written for it’s place in history. You won’t be here forever. Your time is limited. Your days are numbered. But you’re here for a purpose and God’s desire is to work in your lifetime to reveal his deep love and power.
KNOCK ON THAT DOOR.
Ask him to work here.
Ask him to do what only he can do.
Ask him to make a way now.
Ask him to restore what has been taken.
Ask him to revive what has been lost.
Ask him to start something new.
And as you ask, dare to lean into that door and know he is opening it. He is responding. He is working in scenes that have yet to be revealed. The God who parted the sea, the God who gave Sarah a baby, the God who made the blind to see and the lame to walk, the God who led the animals to the ark, the God who made Goliath fall, the God who rose Jesus from the grave, is here today responding to your knock.
It’s real. Your prayers and petitions have set his power into motion. Your praise has unleashed his power.
Oh girl, if you only knew how deep the ocean of his love for you really is.
If you only knew how powerful every drop of Jesus’ blood is.
If you only knew how much it cost to rescue you, and the full price has already been paid.
If you only knew how far the East is from the West, because that’s how far God has removed your sin from you.
If you only knew you are already clothed in righteousness, you wouldn’t carry that shame and guilt with you any longer.
If you only knew how strong his hands are that conquered death, and find your place securely held in those hands.
Oh, if you only knew.
Then you wouldn’t remain here on the surface. You would dive in deep.
You would knock, truly knock on that door and know with every ounce of you he is going to answer. He IS answering.
His goodness, his provision, his power, is here for you. Oh, if you only knew.
(Listen to ‘If We Only Knew’ by Unspoken.)