E57_Don't Miss Your Boat!

This week reminded me of a story my dad told us when we were younger (some of you preacher’s kids may have already heard this one). A man finds himself in the middle of a storm (yes, the eye of the storm represents life's muck). The storm just doesn’t seem to let up and eventually becomes a full-fledged flood. Our man finds his way to safety on top of his roof. He thanks God for keeping him safe in spite of all the destruction around him, and asks God to come down and rescue him from the chaos. Soon after his prayer, a raft floats nearby. It’s stable and water tight, but our stranded man reminds himself that God saved him from the storm and he knows that God will surely rescue him from the rooftop as well. He sighed as the raft passed and continued to wait on the Lord. The water around him began to rise and he quickly found himself in knee-deep water… I’ve seen so many examples of this in real life and I imagine that’s why I remember the story so well. How many opportunities for advancement have passed us by because we didn't recognize them for what they were? How many different solutions have been presented to us to fix our problem, but go ignored because we believe our opportunity or answer has to look a certain way…