15th August 2020

Thunder. Between France and England, the last week we’ve heard a lot of it.  A sound that at the very least demands a pause of acknowledgement. From there the spectrum of response spreads through wide eyed questioning, pillow hunkering, and all the way to fully fledged fear or, in the case of my boys, excitement filled rush to the window awe and wonder.

Whether you love it or hate it, run to it or from it, it’s an almost out of this world interruption that is tangibly real.

It’s hard to explain a sound that that you feel in your gut, that travels right through your being.

Twice now I’ve heard a similar sound from another realm. A deep, mountain trembling, gut resonating, grating, shifting sound.

I heard it again recently as I zoom-prayed with others for ways through the many challenges that so many of us are navigating at the moment.  Isaiah prays it like this “Oh that you would burst from the heavens and come down, how the mountains would quake in your presence…..”.

Now that would make a sound.

The sound I heard and felt was deeply resonantly momentus.  Like tectonic plates re-aligning, a foundational shift that re-designs the landscape above it; deep down millimeters of movement that above causes mountains to rise and to fall.

The sound of ancient gateways being opened.

Open up, ancient gates!

Hasn’t this been our cry? That heaven’s gates would be opened, that rescue would come, that we would welcome the rule and reign of the King of glory here on earth as it is in heaven?

Open up, ancient doors and let the King of glory enter!

We lift our eyes and look to the heavens for help.

Here’s the shift.

We are the ancient gates.

Living gateways. Walking, talking, breathing doors of destiny.

Alive with purpose.

Ancient because since the beginning of time you always were the plan.

The Creator had you in mind when he dreamed of a way to express what you carry.

You were made wonderfully well. Formed and shaped with care and delight.

Your loves, your dreams, your talents and passions. Your concerns and the things that occupy your mind, the people you care about and the injustices that you cannot ignore.

His answer is through you.

But how you ask?  Your answer is through him.

If you’ll open up.

To possibility. To purpose.

He comes through your story. Through your obedience.

Your openness and your vulnerability.

Your stepping forward.

Don’t close down, look down.  

It’s not time to cast your eyes around, to see what could be or should be possible.

It’s time to look up.

It’s time to fling wide!

The one in the heavens you look to and welcome is the most glorious.

He is not caught unaware or unprepared. He is armed and ready.

He is big enough and strong enough to shoulder it all. He is the mighty one.

He wins, you win. He is the Lord of Victory.

He is enough. He never dies. He is always there. He’s invincible.

The one who sends his angels to fly to you, to help you, to fight for you, to wrap their wings around you. He is the commander of heavenly hosts.

His presence is with you and for you. He is the glory-King.

He is the way, coming your way, to make a way.

That’s the sound.

Can you hear it? Do you feel it?

Pause and carry on, run away and hunker down, or run to it and into it. The choice is yours. But there is an out of this world interruption into the real world invitation.

Whether you have to push through the stiff and creaky, or easily reach and slide forward, whether exhilarated or embracing courage, the way through ahead is to full of purpose fling wide.

 Psalm 24:7-10, The Passion Translation

Lift up your heads, you ageless doors of destiny!

Welcome the king of glory for he is about to come through you.

You ask, “Who is this Glory-King?”

The Lord, armed and ready for battle, the mighty one, invincible in every way!

So wake up, you living gateways, and rejoice!

Fling wide, you ageless doors of destiny!

Here he comes, the King of glory is ready to come in.

You ask, “Who is this King of glory?”

He is the Lord of Victory, armed and ready for battle,

the Mighty One , the invincible commander of heaven’s hosts!

Yes, he is the King of Glory.

Pause in his presence.