March 17, 2020 | by: Gregg Hunter | 0 comments
In trying times, we could all use a laugh. Have you ever heard the joke about the faithful believer in the flood?
There was a strong believer who was at home when the flood waters started to rise. He saw the water rise over the roads and knew he wouldn’t be able to get out. He needed a miracle, so he started to pray “Lord save me.”
Soon a man came by in a boat and shouted for the believer to jump in, but he responded, “no thanks, I’m praying for the Lord to save me.” The boat driver reluctantly drove off, and the flood waters continued to rise.
The water rose so high that the man went up to the second story of his house as he continued to pray “Lord, save me.” Soon another boat came by and shouted for the believer to jump in. Still the man responded, “no thanks, I’m praying for the Lord to save me.”
The believer knew that God would work a miracle and save him—he believed and did not doubt. Even as the water rose so high that he had to climb on his roof, he continued to pray in faith, “Lord, save me.”
Finally, a helicopter came by. Having cleared everyone else out of the flood waters, they dropped down a ladder and pleaded with the believer to climb the rope. He utterly refused, and shouted to them, “NO! I’M WAITING FOR THE LORD TO SAVE ME!”
The helicopter flying away was the last thing that the poor believer saw. As the flood waters continued to rise, eventually he was drowned.
When he woke up in heaven, he saw the Lord! He was grateful to be in His presence, but was frustrated: “Lord, I prayed without doubting. I believed in you and pleaded with you. Why didn’t you save me?”
The Lord Jesus looked on him with love and said, “Oh foolish child, I tried to save you. I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?”
I write this joke because most of us need a good joke in this time of uncertainty. God is still good, and He is still on His throne. He still loves us and will return to call us home—maybe even today. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.
One of the good gifts that our Heavenly Father gives us is wisdom. Sometimes God works miracles through what seems like natural means or even common sense. A volunteer on a boat can be sent from God to save someone from a flood. A group of children in a small village in Africa can be saved from stomach illness after being taught proper handwashing techniques from a missionary. A community can be saved by God from the coronavirus by following the advice of their God-ordained governmental leaders to keep from meeting in large groups.
God has appointed the governing authorities over us for our good, and we should submit to them out of reverence to God (Romans 13:1-6). They have not suggested that churches stop meeting as an attack on our faith (which might require us to rebel against the authorities, see Acts 4:18-20). Instead, they have recommended that ALL gatherings greater than 10 people stop meeting temporarily in order to ensure the public health. As such, the elders of Fort Howard Community Church have unanimously decided that we should close the doors to our church for the next two weeks.
Pastor Gregg will be recording his Sunday Morning sermon series through 1st John ahead of time, and we will be publishing those sermons on our website each Saturday so that each of you can listen to them at your leisure. In addition, I will be editing my Sunday Evening sermon series through Genesis into short blog posts that I will be publishing daily on our website, starting next week.
Our church leadership will continue to discuss our best course of action for the future as God continues to reveal His will and our governing authorities continue to provide information to the public. We will do our best to keep you informed of any decisions that are made. If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please call Pastor Gregg at the church/parsonage phone (410) 477-4772.
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