Once there was a terrible flood. It flooded so badly that a man had to climb on his roof to keep from being swept away by the raging waters. He prayed, “God, please save me!” About that time, a man came up in a rowboat. He tried to get the man on the roof to come with him, but the man declined, and the man in the rowboat went on his way. An hour or so went by, and the man prayed again, “God, please save me!” Shortly after that, another man pulled up in a motorboat and tried in vain to get the first man to come with him. So, the man in the motorboat went on his way. A few more hours passed, and the man desperately prayed again, “GOD, PLEASE SAVE ME!” A helicopter appeared overhead – and a man dropped down on a cable, but like the others, he was unable to persuade the man to come with him, and he left to rescue other people. Finally, it grew dark, and the man was cold and wet, and shivering on his roof. He prayed one more time, “God, I asked you to save me. Don’t you love me anymore?” There was a clap of thunder and a booming voice replied, “I sent you a rowboat, and a motorboat, and a helicopter…what more do you want???”
Often when we pray, we have specific answers in mind. For years I prayed about my weight. But I didn’t want to do any work to get the weight off – I just wanted to wake up one day and not have the fat. When I found out about the heart failure, I prayed for healing – but again, I wanted something miraculous and instantaneous. Now, I believe with all my heart that God can and on occasion does work that way. But I also know that many times His answers are not like that at all. And because I’m so busy looking for the answer that I want, in the manner that I want it, I often miss the beautiful answer that God gives me.
It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as healing or as weight loss. Maybe I’m praying about a job – and something presents itself that I have never considered. Or maybe I’m praying about a way to use my talents to further God’s kingdom – and He says, “I don’t need any more divas up on stage, but I sure could use someone to love those babies in the nursery.” So many times, we get in the way of what God wants us to be and to do. And we put God in a box when we think that there is only ONE answer to the prayer we are praying.
Maybe God has something FAR BETTER in mind for me when I don’t get the answer that I am looking for. He could heal my weak heart. But maybe He will grow my spirit by sustaining me THROUGH the heart failure. And maybe doctors and nurses who see what I can do now – and who believe that I shouldn’t be able to do those things – and they will ask, “Why?” and I will be able to say, “It’s GOD – it has always been GOD!” And in that moment – maybe they will see something bigger than themselves. My prayer today is that I will look for God’s answers, even if they are not what I am expecting.
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