While visiting my 90-year-old-mother in Georgia, I was awaken out of a deep sleep by the phone ringing at mid-night.  The man on the other end of the line identified himself as a sheriff deputy and wanted to talk to me about a boat that had just been discovered on a nearby lake.  He said the boat was unoccupied, fully equipped, and bearing the last name of my mother. Thinking it was a prank call, I hung up the phone. Immediately, the door bell rang, and I froze. I knew it was no coincident to receive a mid-night call and the door bell ring within moments.

I peeped through the peep hole and saw a man standing at the door.  I mustered up the courage to ask him what he wanted.  Once again, he said he was a deputy with the sheriff’s office and needed to talk to me about an unoccupied boat on the lake bearing my mother’s last name.

Now, I have the highest regard for our law enforcement officers, but I don’t open the door at mid-night, I don’t care if he says he is the Pope.  Besides that, what a ridiculous story; my 90-year-old mother doesn’t even drive a car, much less own a boat!

So, I did the only thing I knew to do and that was call 911 for the sheriff to come arrest this fraud banging on the door at mid-night.

Once the dispatcher got on the phone with me, she assured me that a deputy with the sheriff’s office was, indeed, at my door.  They wanted to ask me some questions about this mysterious unoccupied boat; they thought relatives of ours might have fallen overboard.

And so, at last I opened the door, and there I stood in my nighty, face-to-face with a young man, clothed in uniform with guns hanging from his waist.  Upon offering my apologies for hindering his mid-night investigation, he told me I had done the right thing by calling to confirm who he was.

As I reflected on my mid-night experience the next day, what had caused my fear actually became humorous.  No doubt, the young deputy also had a good laugh.  I wonder if anyone else has ever called 911 to report him for banging on their door?

I also began to see a few life lessons in it.

I believe that in our efforts to pursue our vision and dreams, we sometimes get in a hurry and swing the door wide open to things that might be harmful to us.  I have learned through my own experiences, we need to conduct our own investigation before opening the door up to just anything and anybody.

How can we do this?

1. Listen to God’s Voice and Listen Some More

“My sheep shall hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me.”  (John 10: 27) Just as a child can recognize his mama’s voice calling him in a crowd of people, the more we read God’s word and pray, the easier it is for us to recognize our father’s voice on our hearts.  That keeps us from opening the door to things that are not of Him.

2. Confirmation

Even though we can hear God’s voice in our hearts, we still live in this earthly body with emotions that sometimes cause us to fear and doubt our own selves.  However,

God uses several ways to confirm His direction to us, such as:  prayer, reading His word, circumstances, others, etc.  Just as the dispatcher confirmed that the man at the door was indeed a sheriff deputy, God will find ways to confirm to us we are on the right track.

3. Faith to step out of a comfortable place.

Can I tell you that even after the dispatcher confirmed to me that, indeed, there was a deputy standing at my door, I was still a little hesitant to open the door?  I even said to her, “I am going to open the door now, but I want you to stay on the line with me and listen in on our conversation?”  After all, I was in a very comfortable place BEHIND the door, but I needed to take a step of faith and open the door.

What about you?  Are you having a mid-night experience, wondering what is behind the door of your dream?  If so, I encourage you to listen, confirm, and take that step of faith.  Only then can you please God and live up to what He has created you to be.