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The View from the Vicarage, Feb 2009

My feet are cold, my pension is shrinking, employment prospects for my family are precarious, I can’t afford any shopping therapy to cheer me up, there is conflict in Gaza, starvation in Zimbabwe, violence in Uganda, fighting in Afghanistan, terrorism, flu and a long way to go to summer! At times like this people ask me ‘Why can’t God sort it out and take away our suffering?’ Good question.

One year there was a terrible flood that deluged a small Midwestern town. Two rivers had burst their banks and the rain continued to fall day and night. Everyone was evacuated, except for one old man who refused to leave his house—which would soon become completely submerged.

“I have faith that God will save me,” the old man shouted at everyone who implored him to leave and flee to higher ground. The man believed in the power of prayer, and he trusted that God would somehow save him.

A man in a 4x4 truck stopped at the old man’s house and banged on the door. “Hurry,” he cried out. “Come with me and I’ll drive you to safety! You haven’t much time!” But the old man continued to pray. He would not leave his house.

Within hours, the water had completely flooded his home. The old man climbed up on the kitchen table and continued to pray. A man in a boat rowed up to the old man’s kitchen window and shouted, “Sir, get in my boat! I’ll take you to safety!”

“No,” the old man shouted back. “God will deliver me from this flood!”

The water got deeper and soon the old man had no choice but to climb up on his roof. He looked up and saw the helicopter hovering over his house. A ladder had been lowered for him to climb.

“Go away,” yelled the man at the helicopter. “You will blow me off my roof! God is going to save me! You go and save someone else!”

The helicopter couldn’t wait forever, so it left the old man on his rooftop, still praying. Eventually, the water engulfed the house and the old man perished in the flood.

When the old man arrived at the gates of heaven, he asked St Peter if he could have a talk with God. Peter took him to the throne of grace.

“Oh Lord, I prayed earnestly for the rains to stop and for your deliverance from the flood. But you left me there to drown. I don’t understand!”

“My child, I heard your prayers. I sent you a 4x4 truck, a rowing boat, and a helicopter. Why did you send them away?”

What I’ve been learning is that we can sit around and blame God for our misfortunes, throwing unanswerable questions at him, or we can decide to be part of the answer. Part of God’s answer. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked his Father God to take away his suffering, to find another way that would avoid his death on a cross. It took him a whole night of struggle to realise that he had to become part of the answer. More recently Bono, who spent 6 weeks working in an African orphanage, found his prayers changing from ‘God, don’t you care about the 13 million orphans? How can you let them suffer?’ to ‘how can I be part of the answer to my prayer?’

How can you be part of the answer to your prayers?

Shalom

Revd Derek Witchell 01296 682320

Submitted by Rob Godfrey on Tuesday, 27/01/2009 - 2:06pm
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