First, let me say I’m no Bible scholar but I do believe that God exists and provides for us all each day. Amid all that is happening in our world now, some folks are having difficulty believing that God is taking care of us. I don’t think I am qualified to debate this issue with anyone and simply ask for your indulgence for a few moments. However, I welcome any thoughts you might share to help us all. Please take a minute to read this parable and see if you agree with me:
“A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbor then drove off in his pick-up truck.
The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.
The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The floodwaters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.
When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat, and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”
You see, what I take from this is that God does provide for us in many ways, but we must be willing to accept His help. This pandemic far exceeds anything my mind can imagine. Some say God brought this down on us. It is causing many to ask why? Why, Lord, are there people dying, losing their jobs, homes, and sometimes their family members? Those are answers I don’t have but I know that we are being afforded cautions, quarantines, stay-in-place orders, and common sense ways to avoid exposure and many still choose to ignore them, leave their homes, don’t use protection, and other methods to keep our exposure at a minimum while exposing themselves to the virus and possibly spreading it.
We must do our part. I too, am sick of the restrictions and inconvenience but believe we can do this. Join us in keeping the faith, heed the warnings, pray for our first responders, our physicians, nurses, medical personnel, and for all of those who are working and essential to our survival and, most of all, pray for each other. It gives us strength and hope for a new day ahead.
Stay safe, my friends.
Gerald