What Did You Expect?
I read a story about a man stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the shouted to the man on the roof “Jump in, I can save you.”
The stranded man shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.” So the rowboat went on.
Then a motorboat came by. The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the motorboat went on.
Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” To this the stranded man again replied,”No thanks, I’m praying to God and He is going to save me. I have faith.” So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.
Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!” To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
Since my release I have learned that God usually doesn’t come in a “parting of the Red Sea” miracle as I had hoped and as I had expected. I thought I would write a book, it would become a best seller, Bruce Willis would play me in The Prodigal One movie and I would be on my way. God doesn’t work that way and Bruce Willis is way too short, so my expectations have changed.
Now what I expect from God is to see Him first thing in the morning and that He is the last thing I see before I go to sleep. I expect that on the days I struggle He will give me enough strength to make it through to another day. I also expect that one day the pieces to this puzzle God has created in my life will fall into place and I will have a future working for the King.
But until then, I will keep knocking on doors, answering when God calls and wait patiently (most of the time) until my ship comes in.
