Asking

Lately I've been thinking about this story Jesus told. He was teaching the disciples about praying, and after he gave them the example of the Lord's prayer, he put it to them another way.

Imagine you've got company that arrived late at night. You don't have any bread left to meet their hunger, so you run to your friend's house and knock on the door. Your friend, undressed and already tucked in bed, won't want to get up and give you the bread. But if you keep asking - if you persist - your friend will come down and give you all the bread you need.

If your children are hungry and ask for fish, do you give them a snake? If they ask for bread, do you give them a stone? Of course not. If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does God know how to give to you. Ask, and receive.  (from the book of Luke, chapter 11, verses 5-13)

I had to look up this passage because I was faced with an uncomfortable dilemma.

Someone asked me for something, and I resented his asking.

Ehh, I've given enough already, I mentally replied, preparing to say no.

But God put his hand on my heart and told me not to reply just yet.

And then He asked me if my refusal was a refusal as a Christian - I mean, a refusal based on God's character, or a cultural distaste for being asked for something. Are you feeling a spiritual discomfort? Or a cultural one? He asked. 

And I had to stop and think about it. And I looked up this story to see what Jesus taught about asking / being asked.

I really dislike being asked to be generous. I love to give! Oh,yes - I love to give, and I love the shiny moment when I surprise people with generosity. Ahh! Surprise! The glorious moment at the end of A Christmas Carol when Scrooge turns into a giver is spectacular.  Surprise, Bob Cratchit!

And I was stricken when I realized: when I'm asked to give, then I lose that shiny moment. Uh. I was not prepared for that good look at my own heart: I think I want that shiny moment more than I want to help people.

That shiny moment feels so good. It's a great moment. It really is.

But - but - it's not the reason to give.

If I'm a Christian first, and everything else later, then my allegiance has to be to God's character first, not to what is comfortable in our culture.  And God doesn't limit himself to giving just when the whim strikes him. He does that, but also -

Jesus laid it right out: He gives when we ask.

Because asking/receiving is really hard, isn't it? And God honours it. Like, we strive every day to be self-sufficient and to meet all our own needs. But it's impossible. Nobody needs nothing. We all need something we can't get on our own. And it hurts. We like to pretend we don't need but -

We need each other.

We need tenderness.

We need grace and understanding and to be seen.

We need people that we can feel safe enough to turn to and ask for help.

We need.

Just ask.

 

xo.