Have you heard the joke about The Old Lady On The Roof? There was this old lady and she loved God and was determined to trust Him through thick and thin.
One day there was a terrible flood in the town. Everyone was rushing to get out fast! This old lady had climbed up on her roof and the water was rising fast when a farmer came by in a row boat and asked her to get in.
“No thanks,” said the old lady. “God will save me.” The farmer went on.
Next a man in a speed boat saw her and pulled up to the roof and said, “Come on in.”
“No thanks” said the old lady. “God will save me.”
Pretty soon she was standing on her brick chimney and the water was raising to her feet. She looked up and saw a helicopter coming down with a rope latter out for her and a women leaning out said, “Grab on!”
“No thanks!” yelled the old lady. “God will save me.”
Soon she drowned and when she got to heaven, she asked God why He didn’t save her? God looked her in the eye and said, “I sent you 2 boats and a helicopter.”
If we truly believe that God provides, we should be open to his provision. I’m going to share with you a personal example and then ask you a question.
End of the Pizza Shop
Here is an example of what happened to me one time. I got a phone call from an acquaintance and she told me that the pizza and sub shop she owned was going out of business. As we talked I was trying to figure out what it had to do with me. She said, “So we are on the final stages of clean up and I was wondering if your family could use the left over pizza and sub items?”
“Sure, that would be great!” I said.
Right here is where I was thinking of pushing the gift away. I mean, after all, I didn’t really know what she had and this is just left overs. The “why bother” set in. But then I remember that God does bless us and not always in the ways we think He will. So I agreed to her offer.
On the day she came she brought in trays of chopped veggies, buns and sauce. Then she went back outside and came in with a 20 pound box, then she went out again and come back with another box, and she went back out and got another box. I didn’t know what was in those boxes just yet. Then she left and she also wanted me to keep the nice restaurant size trays. I thanked her very much.
We used up those trays pretty fast but in the boxes were meat items. One box was beef burger crumbled, one box was sausage crumbled and one was bacon crumbled! At first I did not know exactly how I was going to use these items but I just started throwing them in meals where I could. The burger was the easiest because I’m very used to using beef so I just put it in tacos, chili and spaghetti. The sausage went into quiche, scrambled eggs and breakfast burritos. The bacon went into salad topping and even BLT’s. I just kept the boxes in the freezer and was able to use what I needed.
At the end of each box I was, by then, wishing I had more.
What Would You Do?
Here is my question for you: Have you ever had something offered to you and you turned it down?
I think that we naturally want to say, “No.” However, I believe that we miss out on many of God’s intended blessings and provisions just because we don’t want to inconvenience ourselves with items of blessing.
Just like The Old Lady on the Roof, we think that God is going to provide for us in some private way, but we must be open to what God is doing right in front of our eyes.
Do you have a story to tell about a time of provision? I would love to hear from you.
About Wendy Jeub