The lesson of the story
A few days ago I heard an interesting story on the MRT speakers. You might have heard something similar.
One day, a ship sank, leaving a single survivor stranded alone on a deserted island. Having lost everything, the man prayed to God to save him as he scanned the horizons looking for rescue boats. None came. He built himself some shelter, gathered some food, and continued praying and praying and scanning the horizons, day after day after day. Still no one came. Finally, after gathering some fruit from the forest, he returned to his hut to find it in flames, sending a thick dark column of smoke into the blue sky. Now thoroughly frustrated and angry at God, the man cursed and cried “How could you abandon me in my greatest time of need?!” But then after a few hours, to his surprise, a ship approached his island and came to his rescue.
“How did you find me here?” he asked the ship’s captain.
“Why, we saw your smoke signal of course!”
The lesson of the story, according to the narrator, was that when life gets you down, don’t lose faith; what may seem like a disaster to you might actually be life’s smoke signal beckoning the grace of God.
Aww.
What a ridiculous lesson.
This story, though most people might not notice, actually illustrates three things I would think of as some forms of sin, in one way or another: an abuse of prayer, an over-dependence on God, and gross inaction as a result of faith. And because these three things aren’t directly addressed in the story, it’ll come as a subliminal message to those who haven’t been paying attention that they might be acceptable behavior, just as long as one doesn’t lose faith. Which is why I find stories like this one quite irresponsible.
I’m not about to go so far as to suggest that these are exclusively Christian behaviors, no sir. But having grown up among Catholics and having been surrounded by devout Christians for most of my life, I can’t help but notice that I know a lot of people who are as faithfully helpless as the man in the story. In times of dire difficulty their first instinct is to pray and have faith that He will provide, and if that doesn’t work they increase their devotion by going to church more often, or asking friends to pray for them. Only when things get unbearable, or when they “lose faith” do they take things into their own hands, and by that time there’s little that can be done.
I have nothing against faith, I want to make that clear. Neither do I have anything against God or prayer. I happen to think quite highly of the three. But when the things you believe cultivate a mentality of dependence and helplessness, I have to think perhaps we have different perspectives on faith, God and prayer. So allow me to offer another story, and a different lesson, about a man with a different kind of faith.
One day, a ship sank, leaving a single survivor stranded alone on a deserted island. Believing that God would not leave him stranded without the means to get himself home, he prayed for the clarity of mind to recognize the things that God had provided him. He then set off to search the island. Before long he found leaves with which he built a hut, and flint to start a small fire. Realizing that the smoke from his fire stood out distinctly against the blue sky, he threw in more fuel to make a smoke signal. Shortly after, a rescue ship came and took him home, but not before he offered a prayer of thanks to God.
Aww.
There are a number of lessons to this story:
God is not your slave. He does not “provide” when you call, because he “has already provided” before you even asked. If you believe that God “provides”, faith becomes a license to do nothing. If you believe that God “has provided”, faith becomes the confidence that you can do anything.
Times of difficulty are not troubles, they are trials which you are expected to overcome using all that God has provided – your resources, your skills, and your own understanding. I like to think that if God needs to bail you out of your trial, you have probably failed miserably.
Prayer is a direct phone line to God and should not be used to ask for the blessings he has already provided. Do not ask for shortcuts, he has provided a road. Do not ask for answers, he has provided your mind. Do not ask for perfection, he has provided hope. Ask only for inspiration and patience.
And if there is any one welcome reason to call, it should be to thank him.
