The woman replied "God will save me, I'm staying with my house!"
As the waters rose the woman was forced to her second story balcony where she stood praying. As she prayed she heard a voice shout out from the now completely flooded street, where she now saw a boat floating by. "Excuse me Ma'am, but there is room for one more person in our boat, why don't you come with us and we will take you to safety?"
The woman replied "God will save me, I'm staying with my house!"
Water levels continued to rise and the woman was now on her roof, on her knees, praying fiercely! Through her prayers she heard a loud sound and looked up to see a helicopter over head!
"We are dropping a line to you to pull you up! Grab on and we'll bring you to safety" they said.
The woman again replied "God will save me, I'm staying with my house!"
The storm continued to rage sweeping the woman and her house away. The woman died.
When standing before God she said "I prayed Lord! You didn't listen! Why didn't you help me? Why did you let me die?"
To which the Lord replied. "I sent you a truck a boat and a helicopter...what were you expecting?"
(insert chuckle here) ;-)
When I heard this story years ago I chuckled. As the years have gone by and I've examined my own faith, this story has a sting to it. How many times have I prayed to God with the expectation of what His answer would look like? Too many times to count. How many blessings have I missed because I was sure "I" knew what to look for? Probably several. I have gone down many roads, full throttle, absolutely sure that the direction I was going in was the right one. How was I so sure? It made sense. It was the next 'logical' step or it was familiar and predictable. It was what I saw with my own meager mind to be right.
This is what my own personal journey has revealed....
God works through people and circumstance... and miracles many times come in the most unusual and unexpected packages. Sometimes they're obvious like a truck, boat or plane. Sometimes they are right in front of me but because they're not what I was expecting from God...I don't see them as miracles at all.
It has been through the things that made little sense, weren't logical, predictable or familiar that I have felt God leading me. Through the challenges and the difficulties. In the uncertain and sometimes scary. Those are the times I have felt His gentle hand guiding me. Gently taking the map out of my hands and saying "Walk with me" sometimes down a road that had been right in front of me all along.
Remember when you were a little child and you would blindly follow your parents around? You didn't know what was on the agenda or where you were going, but you felt safe and confident with your hand in theirs. That's how I want my relationship with God to be.
Expectant yet not anticipatory. (Faith)
Knowing without really knowing anything. (Hope)
Trusting with all my heart. (Love)
My prayer is that we always see the trucks, boats and helicopters in our lives. The gentle prompts that God gives us to follow His lead, even when they sometimes might make no sense at all. That I will always reach my hand out in the journey of life and feel His guiding grip leading me. That the flood waters not consume me or my expectations drown me along the way. My hope is to always see the miracles in the people and circumstances that God puts in my path.
To always have FAITH, HOPE & LOVE.
~Patti
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