I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all experienced an unexpected “knock-knock-knock” at our door – an unexpected guest. An unexpected guest, by nature of the term, is a guest who you were not expecting. Everyone in the house pauses for a moment, maybe even whispers to one another asking, “are we expecting anyone?”; “Did you invite someone over?”; “Pizza!!!?” But very rarely will we open the door to someone we don’t know or don’t trust. 

I recently heard a story about an unexpected guest knocking at the door of a family who just got home after a long vacation. This unexpected guest changed everything for this family of four.

This family –  a mother, a father, and their two young daughters – were fast asleep, exhausted from their travels. There was luggage left in the living room, shoes kicked off through the hallway, and each member of the family was hugging their pillow like a long lost friend.

The father was awakened by something that scurried over his chest and down to his feet (they are not owners of any pets).  He responded by flailing his feet and reached desperately for the lamp beside his bed. What could it be?  After turning on the light he saw a GIANT rat at the end of his bed! He jumped out of the bed only to feel a certain crunch under his bare foot that could only mean one thing – there are more! His wife was now screaming and standing on top of the bed begging him to do something about the situation. He flipped on another light and saw their room filled with about twenty more large rats!

Next, he heard his daughters scream in terror from the other room and ran to save them, flipping all the lights on as he flew down the hallway. With the lights on he realized that the whole house was filled with these surprise visitors. The rats were EVERYWHERE— on the couches, in the kitchen, throughout the hallways, behind the curtains. This was NOT the peaceful homecoming they had anticipated.

It was at this moment that he heard a Knock-Knock-Knock at the door. “It’s 3 AM in the morning; who could it possibly be at a time like this, at a moment like THIS?” He raced to the door in his pajama bottoms and looked through the window on the top of the door to investigate. He saw a man dressed in a white, full bodied suit with mask and goggles. It was the exterminator!

He heard the stranger shout, “Sir, your entire neighborhood has been infested with a rodent problem! If you let me in now I can help you.”  The father didn’t have to think twice. He quickly let this unexpected guest into his home, with all the necessary equipment to do his work. Talk about the PERFECT person to see at the PERFECT time! This exterminator had everything the family needed to have things restored in their home. The father didn’t know the man in the suit, but he knew he could trust him, trust his abilities, and trust his process. How could he NOT let him in?

In the same way, I want to tell you that our trustworthy Jesus is standing at the door of your current situation—as messy, embarrassing, or as hard as it may be, He is knocking and asking to be let in (Revelation 3:20).

Jesus was sent into our neighborhood (called Earth) carrying hope and freedom, peace and joy, love and light for all mankind. Everything He has is wrapped up in who He is. When we let Him into our lives, we let all that He is into our current situation. The perfect time to let this Perfect Person in is today, right now.  “If you let me in now I can help you.”

What are the doors you have yet to open to Jesus? Maybe it’s a door to a painful past memory, how you parent your children, your sexuality, your finances, or your outlook on life. What’s your door?

We all have places and spaces, closets and basements, attics and cabinets, areas in our lives that we’d rather keep closed to the light of day, but THESE are the places where Jesus is patiently knocking. THESE are the places that Jesus is longing to show you how deep and wide His arms of Love really reach.

Today my prayer is that you hear the knock-knock-knock of THIS unexpected guest at THOSE doors.  I pray that you see Jesus on your doorstep as he truly is: the Lover of your Soul, slow to anger, a good good father, loyal in love to a thousand generations, and that you will open the door to him today.

“God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.”  Snippet from John 3:16-18 MSG