Some of you may have heard this little story / joke before, but here it is again:
There was once a very religious man who lived in a little house in a village by the river. One day, the skies opened and it began to rain for many days and many nights. As it rained, the water from the river began to rise.
The villagers evacuated from the village and headed for higher ground in the nearby hills. The man did not follow but climbed up onto the rooftop of his little house.
The water level from the river continued to rise and flood the vilage. A small boat came along and the boatman offered to bring the religious man to the nearby hills. The man refused saying, "God will save me. I have faith in Him."
The boatman shrugged and went on his way.
Soon the water from the river overflowed and immersed half the house in water. Another boat came along and the boatman offered to bring the religious man to safety. "No," the religious man said," I have faith in God, He will save me."
The water from the river continued to rise. A helicopter flew across and the pilot shouted to the religious man to climb aboard. Again the man refused, waving the pilot away and shouting," God will save me. I have the utmost faith in Him!"
Despite the pleas of the helicopter pilot, the man stayed on the rooftop.
The water from the river eventually flooded the whole village and the religious man drowned.
Up in heaven, the man met God and expressed his displeasure. "God, I had so much faith in you and yet despite my faith, you did nothing to save me from the flood."
And God's swift reply was," Didn't I send you the 2 boats and the helicopter? What more did you want?"
Moral of the story: In times of crisis, sometimes we expect God to come down in a blinding light and perform awesome miracles to help solve our problems. However, it is those little simple things which we do not notice or appreciate that pulls us out from our darkest hours. It is the friend who comforts you, who offers a listening ear, who offers to share a little bit of your burden that eventually allows us to go on with our lives.
God works in simple but mysterious ways ...
Think about it.