“Let’s Keep Our Eyes Open”

You may remember the story of the man who prays for the Lord to deliver him from the flood…..one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe…. better get in, the  waters are rising fast….. no, I have faith in the Lord, he will save me. Later a guy in a motorboat comes by but he waves him on…. I’m waiting for the Lord to save me. Finally a helicopter comes by … “grab the ladder, this is your last chance…. No, no, no…the Lord will save me. Well, the man drowns. In heaven he asks God, “ Why didn’t you deliver me from that flood?” God shakes his head and says,”  I sent you two boats and a helicopter.” Hmmmmmm.

Well the story may give us a little chuckle, but there is a point. We need to be open to the various ways that the Lord hears our prayers….often the answer is not what we expect. We may be “super spiritual” like the man in the story and end up under water.

Today’s reading from Mark shows a side of Jesus we may not always think about… a practical, earthly side.  “Jesus withdrew to the sea with large numbers following him (looking for healings). He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him.” (Mark 3:7-12) Jesus is being very practical… “hey, we need to be careful here….this crowd may end up crushing me…not good.” We may think, “woe, Jesus is the son of God, he walks on water…why would he be worried about this crowd crushing him.”

To be honest, I don’t know why his approach to situations would tend to be different over time…. sometimes obviously miraculous (many examples) and sometimes simply practical. Yet, in all cases Jesus was doing the right thing, doing God’s will….the methods would vary. 

So, I guess the moral of the BLOG is “let’s not block God in”. If he chooses to help us pay an unexpected bill by giving us a raise at work or by finding some cash under our mattress that we had forgotten about, just say thank you and move on. If Jesus decides to use a boat instead of walking on water, that’s up to him and equally wonderful. 

Let’s keep our eyes open for the Lord to hear our prayers in which ever way he decides. And all will be well with our soul.