Is the sound you are hearing the death knell or opportunity knocking?

Is the sound you are hearing the death knell or opportunity knocking?

death knell
Noun ….something that heralds death or destruction

Was the sound ringing in the ears of Abraham and Isaac the death knell or opportunity knocking? We know from history that opportunity was banging on the door so loudly that we can still hear it today. “Trust and obey and God’s blessings will follow as night follows day.”

Gen 22:
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad[a] and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide;[b] as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”


One of the challenges of living in difficult times is the fact that many of us are confronted with problems in many forms. Potentially stressful situations abound. We do not have to go looking for trouble. We seem to have a magnet that draws trouble to us. No sooner is one issue put on the back burner than another problem raises its head. Living these days is anything but boring. We are constantly engaged in a never ending struggle.

And so, for many of us the sound of the death knell is well known. It has a familiar tone to it. It goes off and when it does it dampens our mood and casts a dark cloud over us. We often struggle to keep our spirits high. The joy that is rightfully ours is put at risk.

Consider the fate of Mordecai that is presented in the book of Esther. There could have been the sound of the clanging of the trap door of his gallows ringing in Mordecai’s ears. The gallows that Haman had built for him. Yet, Mordecai somehow heard instead the soft tap of opportunity knocking on his door.

Esher 7:

1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”
5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”
6 And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!”
So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
7 Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”
As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”
Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

Sometimes the deafening sound of the death knell is masking the soft tap of opportunity knocking. Like Mordecai, we have to be alert and listen carefully. Be alert to opportunity even it just brushes your door! Don’t wait for it to pound loudly. It is far better to open your door in error thinking that opportunity had knocked than for it to have moved on because of your lack of preparedness and failure to respond.

On a personal note, for some time now I have had to be walking by an imposing gallows and to be exposed to the sound of the trap door flying open as the hangman uses sandbags to ensure that my gallows is in good working order. Ever so often the hangman sends out a reminder that my appointment with him is imminent. One such reminder was just received. This time instead of hearing the trap door I am faintly hearing another sound. It is not loud and it is not constant. But there is another sound. And as I tune my ears to the sound it becomes more distinct. It is I believe the sound of opportunity knocking.

The sound is conveying the message that like Abraham and Mordecai it is possible to still the sound of the death knell. As with Abraham and Mordecai – by responding in faith - it is possible that impending disaster could merely be the opening act of a play that has a triumphant ending.

Mark Twain after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal was famously quoted as saying “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” We do not have to accept that the death knell is the only sound around. By trusting and obeying and by prayer and supplication we can produce the circumstances in which another sound comes more distinctly to our ears - the sound of opportunity knocking. We need to be still in our inner being and in that calmed state our hearing becomes more acute. It is in that state that opportunity knocks loudest. In our calm, faith-filled state there is an insistent pounding that comes from opportunity that points the way forward.

The way forward may appear on the surface to be far fetched. Abraham would not have foreseen the ram caught in the thicket. Yet, he listened from a state of inner peace because by faith he accepted that whatever God wanted was best for him.

Against huge odds Mordecai imagined that opportunity had knocked and opened the door to an amazing outcome. When you are in a tight corner and the sound of the death knell is drowning out all other noises you virtually have to imagine that you are hearing other sounds. Even Esther herself thought that Mordecai was hearing noises. She thought he was confused. ‘This is not opportunity knocking. What you are suggesting will bring the sound of the death knell to my ears.’

Many times the sheer volume and intensity of the sound of the death knell threaten to shut down our capacity to hear any other sound. We get caught up in accepting its inevitability and ultimately pay the price it demands. That is a tragedy that we must take care to avoid at all cost.

In stilled obedience and fervent, believing prayer the ever so faint sound of opportunity knocking becomes apparent to us. We need to survey our circumstances with the sense of calm assurance with which David quietened the deafening sound of the impending Philistine slaughter of Israel and instead paid heed to the faint sound of opportunity knocking that led to his slaying of Goliath.

The way forward may seem daunting. The prospects bleak and thoughts of hope appear fanciful. Yet, when opportunity knocks it is there. It is real. We have to be alert and be quick to open the door before it passes us by.

Consider Joseph – sold into slavery and given up for dead yet he heard the soft tap of opportunity and rose to the point where he was instrumental in effectively saving the very ones who hurt him from potential starvation.

In my own personal situation, we are going to have to go where we have never gone and attain heights that we have never achieved. We will need to do things that are new to us. And yet, there is no denying that the opportunity is there and it is very real.

In the final analysis our fate will be decided by the extent to which we are willing and able to fling the doors wide open and put on a mega welcoming feast for opportunity. The noise of the utensils clanging will drown out the sound of the death knell and in that assured, faith-filled state we can claim the victory.

You know what concerns you have at this time. You know the challenges that you face. You may not be in a death knell situation. Disaster may not be at your doorstep. It may be that things are just not working out the way that you want them to be right now. You may be challenged to make ends meet. Things that you really would like to see happen are just not moving fast enough. You are growing, impatient and weary. Whatever your situation, it is getting you down. You are really not comfortable where you are right now and it is somewhat frustrating.

The noises may be getting louder in your ears and you may be getting distracted. Feelings of frustration and even despair might be creeping into your consciousness. You might even be at the point where you are about to throw up your hands and give up.

But wait! Wait for a moment. Bring yourself to a place of inner peace if just for a moment. Right now. Close your eyes and let the tension in your body flow from the tip of your head down through your eyes, your jaw, your neck, your shoulder right down through your toes and into the carpet. Stay in that relaxed state for a while as you focus all your attention on these words: Matt 19:26 “with God all things are possible” Repeat.

In a moment, you are going to open your eyes and before you do that, one more time focus on the words “with God all things are possible” and this time say them really softly but with a sense of acceptance that they are as true as the fact that you are sitting in your chair.

After confirming this important truth, you have the choice of opening your eyes with a new burst of energy…a desire to high five your neighbour. A feeling that you can’t wait to throw open the doors for opportunity to enter. You can choose to open your eyes with the knowledge that you have not felt this good in a long time and you are not about to let anybody or anything take this wonderful feeling of excitement and empowerment away from you.

This is just too refreshing and empowering to give up lightly. You want to savour the freedom that you feel and you hang on to the empowerment you feel and claim it to be yours.

So, this last time, say the words of truth softly but with the deepest level of acceptance that you can muster: “with God all things are possible”

OK, now open your eyes and celebrate….Savour your new freedom and sense of empowerment. As you do so, listen….that faint sound you hear is opportunity knocking. Continue to hold firm to the fact that with God all things are possible and the knocking will get louder and more distinct.

The solution is at hand. It might be disguised as a problem and you might not identify it readily, but by accepting that all things are possible with God you will know when and how to open the door to let opportunity come pouring in. Be patient, be calm in your soul, be assured, ask believing and trust that God will make what you ask for possible for you.

When you ask in prayer, believing and trust God to make it possible you are actually giving opportunity a door bell. And if your faith is sufficient, you actually give opportunity a cell phone as a back up in case the door bell does not work. Knock, ring and call me…just do not pass me by! I know you are there. I am alert and ready.

I am listening out for you and through my believing prayer and faith in God’s ability to make all things possible I am tuning my ears so that I do not miss you.
In fact, so keen am I to welcome you that I do not want to take any chances while I ask in prayer, believing. So I have decided that while I pray, believing, I am going to throw my doors wide open so that you can just enter. No knocking needed…come right in.

Friends, I have an assurance of deliverance and success personally and for each of you at this time. I see the triumphant ending to the play. I can’t tell what twists and turns it may take before the end but I am assured it ends well.

I do not want to be rude but I must ask the realists among us to stay far from me. I do not want to know what the reality is. Leave me alone with this assurance that there are wonderful opportunities waiting for me and for each member of this congregation and the body as a whole. Leave me in the stillness of my bubble to hear even the faintest tap of opportunity.

Allow me like Abraham, Mordecai and David to distinguish between the sound of the death knell and the tapping of opportunity. Allow me the pleasure of seeing dark clouds turn to sunshine and doom turn to triumph.

I leave with the reminder from Eph 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

To be in Christ you must believe that He died so that you can be reconciled to God and make a commitment to now live a life that is obedient to His will. You must declare publicly that Jesus is Lord of your life and submit yourself to baptism for the remission of your sins. You are then in Christ and can walk in the newness of life.

With God all things are possible!