Rescue

It had been raining for days and days on end and a terrible flood had come over the land. The water rose so rapidly that a man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house. As the water level increased, two people in a rowboat came by and told him to get in. “No,” replied the man on the roof. “I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me.” So the people rowed away. The man prayed. The water was already above the second story windows and suddenly a speedboat came roaring by. “Climb in!” shouted the man in the boat. “No,” replied the man on the roof. “I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me.” So the man in the speedboat gunned his engine and left. As the waters lapped at the edge of the roof, the man held onto the chimney and prayed for God to save him. He heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. Over a loudspeaker, the pilot announced that he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. “No,” replied the man on the roof. “I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me.” So the helicopter whirled away as once again the man prayed desperately to God to save him. The floodwaters flowed up the roof until they were swirling about him as he clung to the chimney. The currents were so fierce that they washed him away and, alas, the poor man quickly drowned. When he arrived in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. “Heavenly Father,” he said, “I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?” God gave him a puzzled look, and replied, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more did you expect?”