My grandfather shared a story with me years ago that he heard from his pastor. I think the message is so powerful. I’m sure I won’t do it justice but the story goes something like this:
A hurricane was headed for a coastal town and an evacuation was ordered. A stubborn old man decided he would ride it out. As the town evacuated, he watched from his porch. A truck pulled up and the driver hollered “Hop in! Come with us to safety”. The old man replied “I’m not going anywhere, God will protect me”.
The storm slowly approached and the flood waters rose. The man found himself on the second story of his house, watching from a window. A boat paddles by, one of the passengers yells to the old man “Get in the boat, we will take you to safety!” He replies, “No, God will protect me!”
The hurricane is inching closer. The man is now on the roof clinging to the chimney, praying fervently. A rescue helicopter appears and drops a rope. From a megaphone, the old man hears “Grab the rope we will take you to safety!” The man yells “My God will protect me!”
The old man washes away in the storm. He finds himself face to face with God. Confused the man looks to God and says “Lord, I thought you would protect me?”
God replied, “I tried 3 times. The truck, the boat, and the helicopter.”
The saying goes that God works in mysterious ways. That may be true sometimes, but I believe it is we who mystify his intentions for us. We are too afraid to let go of our own desires. As a result, we become deaf and blind to his direction. I am guilty of this, especially during my struggles with addiction. In retrospect I now know that God was offering me a way out and I continually denied him. He spoke to me through my loved ones. My mother saying, “I think you have a problem.” My wife saying, “I can’t do this anymore, something has to change.”
The more I held on to my own will, the louder his voice would grow. I finally had a moment of clarity and I let go. Be still and listen, open your heart and know that God is not a distant echo but a familiar voice that’s intimately close.
