Digging Deeper: When God Comes Knocking
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Genesis 22:1 (ESV)
WHEN GOD COMES KNOCKING
There are two types of people in the world: those who love to celebrate Halloween, and the rest of us! Maybe your family was the type that decorated the whole house and bought out all of Walmart’s candy aisle (full-size bars, of course). That was not my family! We had a strict rule that all the lights in the front of the house had to be off and you were not allowed to walk by the front windows on Halloween night. Now, in reality, we were normally coming back late from our church’s fall festival; but after we got home, we did not want to be bothered.
If that doesn’t resonate, picture this. You just got home from a long day at work, you’re excited to pull into your neighborhood and kick your feet up on the couch, and you see a 19-year-old kid walking up to the door two houses down from you with an iPad, looking to sell you the latest pest control, doorbell, or technology that Mrs. Johnson from down the street just installed as well.
I think we can all agree on this: when we want to be comfortable, the last thing we want is for somebody to knock on the door. In this passage today, God comes knocking again in Abraham’s life. So far, God has asked Abraham to leave his home, his family, and his plan for his life. It seems like every time God came knocking, he asked Abraham to leave something that he loved to seek after God through doing the impossible.
Personally, I think I would be a little leery to answer the door when God knocked. This was not the case for Abraham. Why? He had seen God’s faithfulness time and time again.
In this passage, God knocks on the door with another impossible situation. God tests Abraham with the very thing he loved most – the son that he had been promised!
I love the fact that the word “tested” is used here. Sometimes I think believers early in their walk with the Lord feel like their lives will become easier and filled with less complications because of trusting in Jesus. There are two types of tests we can receive from God: Tests that grow our faith and tests that reveal our faith. This test was the former. In our Abraham series we have seen God’s slow, step-by-step, building of Abraham’s faith. His faith was grown through hearing from God. His faith was grown through waiting on a child. His faith was grown through hardships and mistakes. His faith was grown through the joy of the promise of a son coming to be.
Abraham didn’t just arrive as a man of faith but was grown through 25+ years of leaning on God and trusting His words. See, God was never interested in taking Abraham somewhere, but instead making him into someone. Our passage today shows the results of who God had made him to be.
And we get to see the fruit of Abraham’s faith in the back half of this verse: “Here I am.” This is not just a friendly “hello” or “peek-a-boo” with the Lord, but a statement of surrender. He is essentially saying, “I’m here God. How can I serve and glorify you”?
So let me leave you with this question. If the Lord were to knock on your door today, what would your response be? Here I am, or nobody’s home? Will you allow God to do the slow, faith-building process that Abraham walked through in your own life?
Sellers Hickman serves as College Pastor at NorthStar Church and loves cheering on his Ole Miss Rebels. He and his wife, Hannah, live in Dallas, Ga. with their one year old, Emery. He also serves as the chaplain for the KSU Men’s Basketball team.