How directly and lovingly Abba is speaking to us right now! The moment we got the notice from the landlord, notifying us that he has sold the building and that we were ordered to move out by February 28, there was a group of us at the Door of Hope who refused to go into sadness and LACK of hope, and we arose and got up and began moving everything we have in the church building into storage. For two days we labored from sun-up to sun-down to move load after load of tables, chairs, sound system, furniture, and kitchen supplies, rejoicing in our Great God who has not abandoned us, but simply said to us, "The cloud has moved. Be quickly obedient to move with it!" We are being obedient, and in the process He has provided a temporary shelter for us to gather and worship Him through my daughter's pastor at the Bethel Family Praise Center in Eaton. Even as I write this I am struck by the name of their church: BETH EL PRAISE CENTER - a place for us to gather in the House of God and give Him praise, even in the midst of our wilderness, and even in the pain of betrayal.
I look up and He is there. His cloud that leads us has just moved us to a temporary dwelling place where we can be fed with manna and await His next direction. I look up and He is there. He provided a strong, faithful group of Levites to put the loads on their shoulders and carry it. I look up and He is there. FORTY DAYS FROM OUR EVICTION DATE IS NISAN 1 ON THE HEBREW CALENDAR. So what happened on Nisan 1? The Tabernacle was built! The tabernacle was set up in the first month of the first year - Exodus 40:17. We are in our second year of the Community called Door of Hope! Forty days from this Sunday, our day of being sent out, is Nisan 1, the biblical first day of the first month! We are in God's timing and under His watchful eye.
The number 40 in Hebraic understanding means TESTING. It is all a test; a test of obedience, of trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of faith. This morning, for the first time in all this mess, I was being tempted to grieve our loss. The beautiful old building in Eaton had been a wonderful sanctuary in which to worship our God, and we had spent a lot of time and money to make it worthy of Him. How could anyone be so cruel and vindictive as to pull it out from under all of us? But He has already given me the answer to that question. "I hardened Pharaoh's heart and used him to bring glorious deliverance to My people." And John has just come to me with Bible in hand and told me the Lord spoke to him this morning with these verses from Psalm 35: "May those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. May they be like chaff before the wind, with Malach-Yehovah (the Angel of the Lord) driving them away. I will give You thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise You!"
And so we look up and get up! God will deal with Pharaoh. We will rejoice in the wilderness, and I praise Him that it will not be for forty years! Perhaps it will only be until Passover, the Day of our Deliverance. But for whatever time it takes, He calls us to "Remember the Rock from which you were cut - and remember the name I gave to you: the Door of Hope. It is not My will that you live in sadness and lack of hope. I am the Door."
The One who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens the door for Him, and the sheep listen to His voice. - John 10:2
We are the doorkeepers, Abba. Many years ago you told me to call this "Doorkeeper Ministries" and I could not yet fully understand how I would walk it out! I only knew that in every circumstance I would need to listen to Your Voice and open the door for You to do Your will in my life, even when it was terribly hard, even when it meant great sacrifice. It has not escaped my notice that God brought some passionate, creative people into the Door of Hope just as this crisis was about to erupt. They were bubbling over with creativity in building us new websites, new ideas for spreading the word and reaching the people. Their zeal and faithfulness threw the enemy into full-scale warfare! But together we will joyfully move forward with praise as our weapon, knowing that He is assembling HIS Remnant who are called and being equipped to bring a multitude of people to healing and salvation. This is a time of training for the difficult days ahead. The faithful are being prepared.
There is a little sadness. I am familiar with betrayal and sadness. So was my Master, Yeshua. But there is no lack of hope! As He says to us today, He has made a way of escape.
Proverbs 11:21: Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.
