When God Knocks at Your Door: The Dangerous Trap of Despising Divine Goodness

A Thanksgiving That Changed Everything

Picture this: A 12-year-old boy stands frozen in his living room on Thanksgiving Day. His family is broke. No food. His parents are screaming at each other in the back room—saying things you can't take back. His younger siblings are hearing it all.

Then comes a knock at the door.

A tall man stands there with a box of food and an uncooked turkey. When the boy's father storms out, the man offers the provisions. The father's response? "We don't take charity," and he tries to slam the door.

But the man puts his foot in the door and delivers a message that cuts through pride like a knife: "Don't make your family go hungry and not have a Thanksgiving because of your anger and because of your pride."

This true story illustrates exactly what millions do with God's goodness every single day—they despise it, reject it, and slam the door on divine mercy.

The Shocking Truth About God's Patience

You're alive right now for one reason: God is good.

That's not flowery religious talk. That's biblical reality from Romans 2:4: "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

Think about it. Why didn't God wipe out America after a million babies are murdered in the womb every year? Why doesn't judgment fall immediately when college students mock God and live in rebellion every weekend?

Because God is forbearing. Because God is long-suffering. But here's what most people don't understand—forbearance has an ending.

The Treasure You Don't Want to Keep

Romans 2:5 delivers a sobering warning: "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."

Every time you sin and "get away with it," you're not actually getting away with anything. You're making deposits. Sin deposits. Wrath deposits. Building up a treasure chest of judgment that will one day burst open.

Young people, listen carefully: You sin and Mom doesn't find out. You sin again and Dad doesn't catch you. You think God doesn't see. So you keep going. Next thing you know, you've lived your whole life sinning because no immediate consequence came.

But when you die without Jesus Christ as your Savior? It's too late. All that wrath you've heaped up comes down like a hammer, and there's nothing you can do about it.

The Pharaoh Syndrome: How Hearts Become Stone

Remember Pharaoh in Exodus? People love to debate whether God hardened his heart or he hardened his own heart. Let's settle it right now.

Exodus 8:15 tells us: "But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart." Verse 32 repeats it: "And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also."

Here's the pattern:

• Plague comes → Pharaoh asks for relief

• God shows mercy → Pharaoh hardens his heart

• Repeat until destruction

God doesn't force anyone's heart to be hard. But when you continuously despise His goodness, your heart gets harder each time. Eventually, God gives you what you want—a heart so hard that repentance becomes nearly impossible.

The Modern Tragedy of the Discarded Gospel

Walk through any community fair where churches hand out gospel tracts. Want to know where most of them end up? Look in the trash cans. Look on the ground. The good news of Jesus Christ, ends up being thrown away and discarded.

People despise God's goodness every single day. Yet He keeps being good. He keeps sending gospels witnesses to pass out tracts and knock on doors.

Why Nations Flourish Despite Rebellion

People ask, "Why does America still prosper when we've turned from God?"

The answer isn't because we're good. The answer is because God is good. He's forbearing. He's long-suffering. But don't mistake His patience for permission.

Job 21:30 warns: "That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath."

God's judgment doesn't work on a payment plan. It goes from zero to sixty in an instant. One day you're living in rebellion, the next day you stand before the righteous Judge, and the treasury of wrath gets opened.

The Father Who Left Too Late

Remember that 12-year-old boy from the beginning? Years later, his father was dying of connective tissue disorder. The symbolism wasn't lost on anyone—a man who never connected with anybody dying from a disease that destroyed his connective tissue.

On his deathbed, the father confessed: "I was an angry, arrogant jerk. I never connected with anybody—not Mom, not you, not anyone."

When he died, that once-12-year-old boy, now grown, was the only family member who attended the funeral.

Don't let pride make you slam the door on God's goodness. Don't let anger cause you to reject the very provisions that could save your soul.

The Fragments That Remain

In John 6:12, after Jesus fed the five thousand, He said something profound: "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."

There were twelve baskets of leftovers—more than enough to go around. God's word, His goodness, His salvation—there's enough for everyone.

Every lost person is a fragment that needs gathering. Every knocked door is an opportunity for someone to receive God's goodness instead of despising it.

Your Response to the Knock

Right now, God is knocking. Not with judgment—with goodness. Not with wrath—with an invitation to repent.

The question isn't whether God will keep knocking. The question is: How long will He knock before forbearance ends?

Proverbs 29:1 warns: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

People die suddenly every day. Healthy people. Young people. People who thought they had plenty of time.

Don't treasure up wrath. Don't harden your heart. Don't despise the goodness of God that's keeping you alive right this moment.

The door is open today. The invitation stands. The goodness of God is leading you to repentance.

What will you do when God knocks at your door?

🎧 This blog post captures key truths from a powerful message on Romans 2, but there's so much more depth and insight in the full sermon. For the complete expository preaching experience with additional biblical context, illustrations, and verse-by-verse Bible teaching that will transform your understanding of God's patient mercy, listen to the entire sermon here. ✝️

Experience the difference that systematic, verse-by-verse Bible teaching makes in understanding God's Word and applying it to your life today.