Recognize

There was an old woman who lived in a house in the woods way out in the country. She'd been there most of her life, she'd raised her children there, watched her husband die there, and lived. A devout woman, she had taken great care to give the glories to the lord her whole life, and instill it in her children and people around her.

As bad weather approached, one afternoon a truck drives into her yard. A young man gets out and approaches her as she sits on her porch.

"Ma'am, the weather is looking bad, and your house is in the middle of the flood plain. We've come down to help. We'll load up all your stuff and take it to higher ground for you so it will be safe."

"No, no need. I've lived here a long time. I'm not worried. The lord will take care of me." She answered

The young man begged and pleaded for an hour, but the old woman refused to go. Finally, he got back in the truck and left.

A few days later the rains came. The sky opened up and water seemed to pour from the sky in great sheets. The walls on the old woman's house shook with the force of it. She sat in her parlor and by candlelight read the bible.

Sitting on a flood plain, the waters came. First puddles, then a even sheet, until finally it was lapping at the last step to the porch. The old woman sat on the porch watching the droplets when a boat came into view and headed over to her. A man called out from the bow.

"Ma'am, the weather is getting worse, and the water is going to keep rising. Get your valuables together, put them in a suitcase and we'll take you to safety."

"No need, I'm not worried. The lord will take care of me." She called out.

The man on the boat begged her to come, but she refused. Finally, afraid the boat would get waterlogged they left.

And more rains came. The old woman read the bible and prayed. And soon the house flooded, and the water still came. And the waters rose and rose until finally, the old woman sat in a raincoat on her roof, a bible and book of memories clutched to her chest. She prayed.

Out of the rainclouds she heard a noise. She looked up and descending from above was a helicopter. It lowered a harness on a cable and on a loudspeaker a man shouted down to her.

"Ma'am, we've come to rescue you. You can't take anything with you, but you climb into the harness, we'll take you to safety."

"No need, the lord will take care of me!" She shouted back in the din.

Running low on fuel, the helicopter waited a few minutes, then the wheeled away and disappeared into the clouds.

The rains continued to fall, the water continued to rise and until, soaked and cold, the old woman died.

She arrived in heaven upset. She asked to speak to God personally, and the lord was only to swift to listen. She approached him hot, and let her feelings be known. "God, I believed in you, I trusted you, and yet you failed me. You let me die in the cold waters of the flood. I devoted my life to you, not just every Sunday but everyday. Instilled your word in my children and lived by your teachings. How could leave me lord?"

God looked at her puzzled. "But I sent a truck, a boat and a helicopter. Why didn't you take one?"

So, the question we need to ask is: when the lord sends you help, sends your blessing...will you recognize it?