rowboats

It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.

As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. "Climb in!" shouted a man in the boat. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. "Heavenly Father," he said, "I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?" God gave him a puzzled look, and replied "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

Today I realized something; when you ask God to do something, you better expect Him to move. No, He may not move in the way you thought He would but He will do something. We can’t be so close-minded that we’re unwilling to recognize when God may be trying to do something in our lives. We can’t overlook the ‘rowboats’ because we refuse to believe that God won’t answer us exactly the way we expect Him to. Matthew 21:22 says, “And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive” (Amplified). How much sense does it make to ask God for something but then not expect He’ll do it? It’s like asking our parents for something but knowing they won’t give it to us. Why even bother asking? When we go to God, we need to have faith enough that He’ll answer and be receptive enough to realize when He does answer us.

Today’s side of laughter is a clip from The Office. Enjoy.