Don’t miss the blessing- “I sent you a rowboat”

I love parables, but haven’t shared any here in a while!

Recently I ran across this one, which I know I’ve heard before, but it had been a long time. So, the message kind of “got me” again. Figured being Sunday today and all, it’s a good day for this. 🙂

I Sent You a Rowboat:

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 he shouted to the man on the rooftop, “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 shortly after, a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you!”

Again, the stranded man said, “No thanks. I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”

So the motorboat went on.

Then a helicopter flew by, and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety!!”

To this the stranded man replied again, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”

So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss the whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “Why am I here?! I had faith in you but you didn’t save me! You let me drown! I don’t understand why!”

To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat, a motorboat and a helicopter! What more did you expect??”

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OOH. That’s a zinger, God. 😉

But I love this.

I also love the saying “The Lord works in mysterious ways”. This whole parable is such a great reminder to keep our eyes open, especially during difficult times.

Maybe the “answer” we are seeking is right there in front of us.

Maybe it’s message from a friend. Or a stranger you meet. Or an unexpected event. A song on the radio. Or maybe it’s literally a helicopter with a rope hanging down, when you’re drowning!! 😉

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading and thinking about this.

I feel like we all, myself included, really do need to remember that sometimes we just need to help ourselves!! The help might be right there for the taking, just not maybe in the form we were looking for.

For example, maybe you have a problem that could actually be solved by just spending some money on it. Seems weird, but maybe the fact that you have enough disposable income to do this is the help you were seeking. Maybe your money is the answer. Or maybe someone doesn’t have enough money and feels constantly broke….yet passes up opportunity after opportunity to get a better job, preferring to continue complaining about their poor state, because it might not be the exact job they were looking for. Etc. Etc.

In my case, I was complaining about being too busy this weekend and feeling overwhelmed. (see Friday’s post) Well, in the soccer group chat on Friday, several parents were messaging and organizing a carpool up to Eau Claire for the Saturday afternoon game (2 hours 45 minutes from my house). There were a couple of cars that had room for a few more kids.

At first I hesitated, feeling bad about not attending Ethan’s game. But then I realized- this is my rowboat!! By sending Ethan with another family, we got back ~8 hours in our Saturday. He went with friends and had fun, we had time to get some stuff done. (We also saved GAS MONEY/ helped the planet by not sending 14 cars up north.) Wins all around. We will watch Ethan play today, at his home game. 🙂

Keep your eyes open for those sneaky “unanswered” prayers. 🙂

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for squeezing in some time to sit and read out on the deck at the end of a (still very busy) day yesterday.