My ship has sailed. A common English idiom that symbolizes the idea in life that any true opportunity worth having will only present itself once. A once in a lifetime chance that once sailed, is gone forever. A rather fatalistic concept, but part of our culture and I think more accurately, part of our being. How many opportunities can you think of in your past that you regret passing on? Opportunities where either love, money or advancement got away. Or if you’re a guy, a car. I always love striking up this conversation around a crowd of guys. I’ll ask, “what was the one car that you never should have let go?” The chatter instantly becomes as lively as monkeys fighting over a banana. It’s funny that most guys could simply go out and buy that same car again, but let’s face it, sometimes it’s just more sentimental to lament about “the one that got away.” We adhere to this idea that opportunity only knocks once and if we happen to be away from the door, we have missed it for a lifetime. But what if I were to tell you that the single biggest opportunity in life doesn’t knock just once, but keeps on knocking?
Speaking of knocking, it brings up one of the most famous verses in God’s Word. And when I say famous, I use the parameters that even most people that don’t read the Bible know it.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
There’s also a lesser known verse that relays a very similar message.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20
If you were at home today and there was a knock at your door, what would you do? More than likely you would get up, see who it was and then answer the door. But have you ever decided to not answer the door? (of course you have) Maybe the timing was inconvenient for you, maybe you just weren’t in the mood, or maybe you glanced through the peep hole and saw who it was and decided you wanted none of them. (you’ve done this too) Regardless of your reasoning, you have to admit, it’s completely up to you whether you turn that doorknob and open that door. But what if you sat back down and there was another knock at the door again in 15 minutes? How is your demeanor now? Do you answer it this time or are you a little more set in your determination to let that knocking fade away into nothingness?
Today in 1 Kings 20 we see a knock at the door that surprises even me. We pick up with evil king Ahab and he’s in trouble. Another evil king, Ben-hadad of Syria, has assembled a team of 32 other kings and they are hungry for power, riches, and land. Ben-hadad sends Ahab a message, I’m coming to get all your personal gold, silver, wives and children. Ahab, knowing the number of soldiers Ben-hadad has, quickly relents. (too bad if you were a wife or kid of Ahab, right?) But just like any power-hungry tyrant, if they sense they can get more, they will milk out all they can. Ben-hadad sends another amended message, he will now not only take all of the kings personal wealth but the wealth of all of the people. Ahab sees where this is going and refuses. He realizes he has already given an inch and then a mile, the other miles are surely to be demanded if he keeps on succumbing. What a fix. If he refuses, it means death and destruction from a huge army, if he relents it means the sacking of his kingdom, leaving it little better. Ahab finds himself between the proverbial rock and hard place.
I wonder at this point if Ahab drifted back to some of the past knocks in his life. Those moments when he refused to open the door because of who was on the other side. Maybe he had regrets that when the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself, he could not muster the humility to open it and face the one that knocked. But in this moment, of all people, evil king Ahab had just one more knock at his door. And this time, motivated by death, fear, and poverty, He gladly answers.
“And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” 1 Kings 20:13-14
Ahab had heard this knock in his life many times before. Just recently, the knock was deafeningly loud as he had seen God make a fool out of his false god Baal. The mountaintop message was so loud and clear I bet Ahab's eye brows were singed. Elijah had clearly given him the message of God, but just as before Ahab refused to answer the door. What I love about this particular knock is that God had put Ahab into the position where he had little choice but to answer. His worldly gods were nowhere to be found, powerless to help him. His personal power was exhausted, 33 kings and their armies bearing down on his measly 7,000 man army. The conniving power of his evil wife, Jezebel, was useless to him. His 850 priests of Baal and Ashteroth were all dead, put to death by the very hand of Elijah. God had taken all of Ahab’s options off the table. He had no choice but to open that door and face the one he had been running from all of his life.
What I love about the passage is the candid honesty it captures. As surprised as we may be that God would keep knocking on the door of evil Ahab’s heart, I think Ahab was the most surprised. I think Ahab was the last person on the planet that expected a direct message from God. I love that when God tells Ahab he will be victorious in battle against Ben-hadad, his response both times is based on the pronoun “who.” I picture Ahab listening to God, pointing at himself and looking all around in amazement and muttering, “who me? are you talking to me?” I think Ahab could have been blown over by a single breath. He never thought God would knock again.
Folks, have you refused to answer the door in your life? Have you heard the knock and instead chose your own selfish way over that of God’s? Have you refused to answer yet again, refusing to give up your sins that seem to satisfy you? Have you refused to answer because you have bought into the lies of the world about who God truly is? Have you refused to answer that door so many times that you're certain now the knock will never be heard again? That your ship has sailed on that opportunity? Well, I’ve got some amazing news for you…God has never left the door…His knock has never ceased. Sure, maybe you’re unable to hear it enveloped in a life of sin and rebellion, but it’s there. You see, Ahab was shocked that God would continue to seek him and care for him after the way he had abandoned God. He had worshiped false gods. He had built temples to false gods. He had lusted after countless women. He embraced evil. He led God’s people into sin and idolatry. He thought that by now, God was surely done with him. Folks, that is a lie directly from satan that the world wants you to believe. God is never done knocking on the hearts of sinners.
Today, put your past behind you, refuse to believe the lie, and walk to the door. Open that door and witness the love of Christ that stands on the other side. What you will find is not an angry, judgmental God, but the wide-open arms of Christ. Arms that hold the deepest, purest love that you will ever encounter. He loves you regardless of what you have done, what you have worshiped or how you have lived. Ask Him to not just be the lover of your soul, but your Savior. Tell Him that you have sinned, tell Him that you are sorry and ask Him to come into your life and make a change. A change that will revolutionize your world.
Don’t resist the knock any longer, today is the day to answer that door.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9
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