Rescued!

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
    He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Psalm 34:17-18

We've seen people get rescued.  We see the effort that is put into rescuing a puppy from a dogfighting ring.  We see what it takes for the Coast Guard to search for and rescue someone at sea.  We see the undertaking of Firefighters rescuing people from a fire.  And it gives us a good feeling that rescues are happening.  

 

What is one thing you never see when someone gets rescued?  You never hear the person to be rescued say "You only brought a single helicopter?" or "Why can't that pretty blonde from the Firefighter Calendar be the one to rescue me?"  Why don't we hear such things?  Because, when we need rescuing, we just want to be saved from the peril and we aren't picky about who does the rescuing!

 

Now, think about this: When we cry out to God to rescue us....don't we put conditions on Him?  "I want You to rescue me, but I want it to be done like this and here's when I want it and here's who I want to handle things on this end."  In short, we want God to rescue us the way WE want!  We want to put conditions on God, as if we're doing Him some kind of favor for allowing Him to rescue us.

 

Here's a principle:  "When God rescues us, He also teaches us!"  This means God's plan for our rescue will probably not be what WE had in mind.  It might even be a painful learning experience.  He might use people we don't like, who might *gasp* hold us accountable and have expectations that we should actually DO something to keep this situation from happening again.  

 

There's a story I heard back when carved tablets were the hottest form of communication:

 

"A man built a strong, sturdy house.  Rains came and the river flooded.  The man prayed for God to save him.  The flood waters rose, the man moved upstairs and prayed for God to save him.  The flood waters rose more, the man moved to the roof and prayed for God to save him.

 

After a while, a man in a boat came by and asked if he could be of help. The homeowner said, 'NO, I have prayed and God will save me.'  Later, a helicopter came and the rescue crew asked if they could help. The homeowner said, 'NO, I have prayed and God will save me.'

 

The flood waters rose and the man drowned.  When he stood before God's throne, he shook his fist at God and yelled, 'I prayed that You would save me!  And You DIDN'T!'  God said to the man, 'I sent a boat.  I sent a helicopter with a crew.  What MORE did you want?'"

 

God uses weird ways to rescue us in weird ways.  God uses weird people to teach us in weird ways.  When we pray for rescue, remember that God has THE plan....not us."