If you don't have a cat you may not know how smart they can be. Ours know what door knobs are and that those knobs are the key to having access to many wonderful things. Our bedroom door is usually shut so that our two indoor cats can't pounce on us in the night or breath in our face, but it too has one of those nice shiny knobs. When Toki and Coal get hungry or lonesome nothing is going to keep them from scratching at the door in their attempt to reach that knob so that they can get in and tell us of their plight. Our bedroom door has taken a beating as they banged, scratched, and tried to reach the knob to get it open.
Clarence and I think that we are smarter than cats so we were certain that we could outwit our two and get them to stop pounding on our door. Attempt number one was based on the knowledge that cats don't like water. We bought one of those long, wide storage bins that are meant to slide under the bed. We put an inch or two of water in it, and placed it across the front of the bedroom door. It took only one night to learn that this left a gap between the storage bin and the door. If a cat were really careful it could jump over the corner of the bin of water and slide into that gap to scratch at the door and make it bang loudly.
Attempt number two: We had recently received an item which came in a box that fit very nicely between the bin and the door, filled most of the width of the door, and was at just the right height to hang a corner of it on the doorknob. Ta-da!!! That should do it. That night we discovered that there was just enough room between the bin and pantry door to the left of our bedroom door to allow a cat to snuggle into that spot and reach out to bang the box that was hanging on the doorknob. A few days later we found another box and went for attempt three. We slid the box into the gap between the bin and the pantry door. A few nights later the cats discovered that the bin was only a few inches beyond the right hand side of the bedroom door and if they carefully stretched across the corner of the storage bin they could still bang that cardboard box and make a lot of noise. That resulted in our most recent attempt and another piece of cardboard sliding between the bin and the box in the door making it a little harder to push the box in.
There's still some scratching on the boxes that takes place but it is bearable, and the meows pleading for attention can be ignored. It does take awhile to maneuver all that stuff around the door each night, and our efforts don't result in blessed quietness, but at least the doorframe is no longer being scratched up and the boxes don't bang against the door anymore . . . most of the time.
I'm reminded of the friend in the Bible who went at midnight to ask the guy next door for bread and, after repeatedly knocking on the door and asking for food, the man who was wanting some sleep finally gave up and gave the neighbor what he wanted. This parable of Jesus is followed by the words "I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." (Luke 11:5-13)
We humans sometimes respond because we are tired of that knocking on the door and we want the interruption to stop, but God is just the opposite. He is eagerly waiting for that knock. He will welcome us, listen to us, comfort us, laugh with us, wrap us in His loving arms. He knows what is best and is always preparing for our arrival. Our first thoughts should be to go to Him without hesitation and to trust Him with every bit of our lives.
I remember that first time that God responded to my knocking . . . or maybe He was knocking on my door . . . regardless, I went from helpless sinner to saved by grace. I'm so glad God loves me and wants to spend time with me, and He isn't barricading the door so that I can't reach him . . . . like Clarence and I do with some cats we know.
