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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Encountering an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue # 244 August 29, 2001 Waiting at the Window We’ve all seen the pictures. A small child at Christmas, looking through the window of a store, face pressed against the glass, wanting something that they cannot have. Completely powerless to do anything about what they want, the child just waits by the window. I was thinking of that image yesterday but in a slightly different context. To begin with, I was thinking about God. Now God is anything but powerless, in fact ultimately He holds all the power. Nothing is impossible with Him.  Yet I pictured Him with His face pressed against a window, with a forlorn expression on His face. The scene was a Sunday worship service. The sanctuary was full, and people were busy doing their 1 hour, fully structured worship thing. Getting their religious duty done for the week. Nobody is really expecting God to show up. He really wouldn’t be welcome anyway because the service is fine tuned and structured to run without variance or interruption. After all people have expectations and schedules to keep. I’ll come back to the picture in a moment. I believe that God is a gentleman. He doesn’t come into live where He is not invited. In fact, one of the truest indicators of God’s true love, at least in my mind, is that He never forces His love on anyone. We are all free to accept or reject Him, and face the consequences of our choices. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.                                Revelation 3:20 NIV He knocks on our doors and waits for us to allow Him in. This is the God that created the universe, He loves us  and respects us enough to give us the choice. No door, physical, metaphorical or spiritual can hold Him back, after all He spoke them all into existence. Yet He chooses to be held back if He is not invited. The worship service continues. God waits for His invitation to enter and show His love and His power to His people. Holy Spirit surrounds the place. He waits, watching with His face pressed against the glass. Looking for the invitation to come in and bless those in worship. Prepared to pour out His love and blessing at the slightest opportunity, He waits. And waits. And waits. Worship is done and the people go home, feeling somewhat empty. He’ll be back the next worship service waiting again for the invitation. Will you invite Him into your worship? Or will you simply go through the ritual and routine and leave Him waiting, with His face pressed against the sanctuary window? The choice is yours. Until next time, may you make your heart and life open to the presence of God. God bless. Kevin ©  2001 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin All Rights Reserved SUBSCRIBE TO GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD IT IS FREE