Someone keeps knocking on my door but when I answer there is no one there. I’m sure it isn’t a neighborhood prankster. My dog, who thinks it is her god-given task to protect the house, goes crazy rushing to the door to fend off an intruder. But there is no one for her to intimidate. And yet the knocking persists. At times I feel like Samuel answering the call in the night by saying, “Yes, Lord.” But like all good mysteries we solved it. Our knocker is a hairy woodpecker. Whenever I go to the door he disappears only to reappear when the door closes.
But let me come back to Samuel. God can be very persistent. Jesus told His disciples He was going to send them a Comforter. That was the Holy Spirit. However, it has been my experience that the Holy Spirit is not always a comforter but can be a royal pain in the head. He keeps knocking. He is more persistent than a hairy woodpecker. And thankfully, unlike the woodpecker, He does not flee when I open the door. He is more than anxious to come in. Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock.” He does so via the Holy Spirit.
A hundred years ago Francis Thompson compared the Holy Spirit to a hound dog in his famous poem entitled, The Hound of Heaven. Once a hound is on the scent of a rabbit it just keeps going and going like the energizer bunny. God is like that. He is on our trail. He is knocking at our door. He is a lover pursuing the love of His life. He wants you and will never ever stop knocking. He will never stop chasing you.
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 1, 2016
PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org