The Parable of the Wasp

I live in a room in a fairly old house, with several large trees nearby. I've got two quite big windows, and they aren't double-glazed or anything. This means that I get quite a few wasps in here in the summer, and Wasp Season seems to have just started a few days ago.

I was woken up at about 5:30 this morning by a wasp which had somehow found its way into my room, and couldn't get out. It was continually buzzing and hitting itself against the window, rather like the persistent widow. And it was a great reminder to me of several things:

• as with the persistent widow, the importance of persistence in prayer. Not that God is like some curmugeonly old judge who can't be bothered getting out of bed (though I am) - God is far more gracious and far less sleepy than either me or the judge.
• how animals react to perceived needs. And yet do I / we seek after God like a wasp seeks after getting outside when everything is dark inside, when we know that we need him far more than a wasp needs light?
• the importance of taking opportunities when they come...

I couldn't sleep. So I got up, and opened the window for the wasp. The wasp, being stupid, did not go through the open window but continued pushing against the glass. So after a minute or so of this, I killed it. Having asked for and sought a way out of our problems, when we get one, we should take it, or our problems may just get a whole lot worse.