“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” – Matthew 7:8
A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and shouted to the man on the roof. “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded fellow 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 and the man in that boat also shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” But again the stranded man responded, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” Later a helicopter flew over and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I’ll lift you up to safety.” “No thanks,” the stranded man replied, “I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven where he had a chance to confront God. “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me down. I don’t understand why!” To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat, a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
This story, which we’ve all probably heard many times, struck home with me recently. It was during a lull in my business that I had been praying to God for more to do, when sure enough out of the blue an unexpected phone call arrived with a business opportunity. But because it was not exactly what I had in mind I sort of blew it off. Now I wonder, though much too late, if that wasn’t a rowboat that had shown up urging me to, “jump in, I’ve got work for you to do.” To which I much too quickly and smugly responded, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and I’m sure he’s got something much better in mind.”
How often I have failed to recognize God’s miraculous, albeit sometimes subtle, answers to my prayers. And, as with the poor guy stranded on his rooftop, it is not for lack of persistence in prayer or lack of faith. My problem is that after offering my petitions to Almighty God I tend of have preconceived ideas how He should answer. But His ways are not my ways, I must remind myself, lest His mighty works elude me even though right before my very eyes — like the ignored phone call or the fellow clinging to the rooftop. Answer He does, nevertheless, just as promised: “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”