Come On In

"Mee-ow." 

My cat Isabel has a bad habit of sitting outside my bedroom door some nights and meowing after I've gone to bed. The door is open, and she knows she can come in and hop on the bed and go to sleep. Still, she sits just outside the door and times her meows perfectly with each time I fall asleep. I'm a light sleeper and the slightest sound wakes me up.

"Mee-ow."

Aarrrgghhh! I had gone to bed early tonight, before the news went off, because I was so sleepy I could not hold my eyes open.  It has been a stressful week, and I was exhausted.  I decided that I should go to bed and try to get ahead on sleep, since we will have an hour stolen from us tomorrow night. I fell asleep quickly, and was subsequently awakened by Isabel. I called out to her, "Izzy, it's bedtime. Come in and go to sleep."  Usually, this is enough to make her come on in and jump up on the foot of the bed, where she sleeps for at least part of the night.  She didn't come in, though, and I guess I dozed off again, because the next second I was rudely awakened again by another pitiful meow. I called to her again to come in, but she didn't. So I fell asleep again.

"Mee-ooooow." 

Grrrrr. I was pulled from sleep again, and I got up and yelled at her. Then I laid back down and couldn't go to sleep.  So here I am, writing. Does God have something He wants to talk to me about?  I am here and waiting to hear. I'm not sure if that was it, or was I just supposed to share this little story. I see a comparison here that I feel I need to point out.

Isn't that what we do with God sometimes?  We know we can go right on in, but we sit outside and whine about being outside. It makes no sense at all when you realize that we can go in and vent to Him to our heart's content.

"This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."  Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT.

God is waiting patiently for us to come to Him.  He has the answer to our problems, but we won't go ask for help. Unlike my frustrated reaction to my temperamental cat, He doesn't yell at us or slam the door if we don't come when He bids us come. He is the perfect Father and He is patient and loving. He is just inside the door, waiting, hoping we will come.

Maybe this was why the cat woke me up tonight.  Someone needed to hear this...probably me.