Doorframes

Several years ago, after watching the movie "War Room" and then reading the companion book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer, I felt compelled to do something I had never done before: write Scripture on the door frames of the rooms of my house.  

We were in a very dark place as a family. I was spending my nights praying and my days fasting. I thought, if I just cover this place with Scripture, if I just make sure every room is protected by the Word of God, we would be o.k.

So, one night, I snuck through our house around 3:00 a.m. and, with a stepstool in one hand, and a pencil in another, I went from door frame to door frame, writing different scriptures. Up high, faintly, so no one could see them. It was easy to do it at 3:00 in the morning because I was working remotely, overnight, for a company in Beijing. While everyone else slept, I worked. And wrote Scripture on door frames.  

It was wonderful and beautiful, and I went to bed finally around 6 a.m. feeling a sense of peace that surely God would hear the cries of my heart, that surely the Scriptures would be the fix I had hoped. However, just one year later, that house was up for sale, and our family was trying to find a place fifteen miles down the highway, closer to work. The Lord provided a lovely rental home, of course, and when we moved, the door frames of our newly sold house were the same, still with Scripture lightly penciled. I'm guessing the new owners had no idea about the added "feature".

It's been five years since that move, and there have been a few times I've thought back to those door frames, with those Scriptures written on it. It's tempting to think that the Scriptures didn't "work", because things didn't work out the way I wanted them too. It's tempting to think it was a fruitless exercise, because after all, everything shifted dramatically, and seemingly, God didn't answer my prayers.  

But, as time has passed, and, with a lot of healing and prayer, I'm starting to see it differently. Those Scriptures, representing the living God, did indeed "work". His Word - Jesus Himself - a shelter over us and a shelter around us - He was the true shelter we needed. The true door frames over our lives. Jesus was the comfort we would need, the hope we would need, the assurance we would need. Whether we lived in a beautiful, sprawling home up the hill (with a low interest rate!) or in a lovely little rental home down the highway, Jesus was and is our home.

The song we are introducing this Sunday has a lyric in it - "I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ." I can tell you right now, that is 100% true. In Christ, we can move forward in the trials and imperfections of this life, without fear. He is written on the doorframe of my life and on the doorframes of the family.  

And He is written on yours. Your life was bought with His blood. You can trust Him.  

Psalm 91 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day . . . "

Holly Kalton