“So, I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Luke 11:9-10

For Meditation

Knock, knock! Knock, knock!

There, in the window, it sat, a little bird on the ledge of our kitchen window. A worker had cracked the bug screen open on one side of the window that has become an irritant to my wife. But what an opportunity for this bird on this cold evening in Dakar! It knocked on the glass window with its beak. Tap, tap! Tap, tap! I drew closer to look at the poor little thing, shivering in the cold. We stared at each other for a moment, and she went back to tapping on the glass. I got the message alright. But how could I let it into our kitchen for the warmth it was seeking? I imagined telling my wife, “A bird knocked on our kitchen window seeking refuge from the cold, so I let it in for some warmth.” Well, I advised myself and thought of something else.

What if I could replicate a nest on the ledge for the poor bird? All I had to do was to put some warm clothing there in a shape of a nest. Good idea, I said to myself. But as I opened the window to begin my rescue mission, she fluttered away. Maybe I had no communicated my intention well to her, so she felt threatened and flew away. However, my greatest surprise was how disappointed I was in my inability to provide what my little visitor asked of me.

Jesus told of the man who went to his friend late in the night for three loaves of bread to serve his visitor (Lk. 11:5-8). Though it was a bother to the friend, Jesus said the friend in bed would get up and meet the man’s need because of his “shameless audacity” (v.8).

The masterful teacher that He is, Jesus concluded with a threefold assurance of God’s provision when we unashamedly ask, seek, and knock on His door for help, even at awkward times (vv.9-10).

My little friend knocked on my kitchen window for a place to warm itself away from the cold, but I failed it. But God will refuse no one who knocks on heaven’s door, seeking refuge in Jesus away from the harshness of this world.