What if it's not all about me?

A man stood on the porch of his house as the flood waters rose.  As his neighbors evacuated, they called out to him to join them, he called back, "The Lord will save me!"

A little later, a man in a jeep pulled up, the water now covering the front lawn.  "Get in, I'll get you to safety," the driver called to the man on his porch.  Again he answered, "The Lord will save me!"

About an hour later, the man had moved inside his house as the water was now covering the porch.  A man came by in a boat and shouted, "Get in, I'll get you to safety."  Again, the man answered, "The Lord will save me!"

As night fell, the man had climbed to his roof to stay out of the water.  A police helicopter hovered overhead and the pilot called down with his blow horn, "I'm going to lower a ladder to you.  Climb up and we'll get to safety."  For the last time, the man called back, "The Lord will save me!"  And he watched as the helicopter flew off to higher ground.

Through out the night the flood continued to rise, and the man eventually was drowned.

As he entered heaven, he was welcomed by Jesus.  Immediately, he started with the questions.  "Lord, why didn't you save me?  I waited for you to protect me from the flood?  What happened?

Jesus answered him, "Didn't you see your neighbors?  The jeep, or the boat, or the helicopter?  What more did you need?"


I don't know where I first heard that story.  Probably a children's sermon at church....but it has really stuck with me.  And recently it has taken on even more meaning for me.

Countless times in the past few years I have found myself offering this prayer:  "Lord, show me what I'm supposed to be doing.  Show me where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to do.  Working part time at Target and sitting home waiting for the kids to come home from school can't be it.  There has to be more that I'm meant to do."

It varies a little bit from day to day...but you get the point.
Sometimes thoughts like "I'm too smart to be doing this" or "I deserve more" sneak into my prayers.

But what if I am exactly where I am supposed to be?  What if I am doing good for people that I don't see directly?  What if the time I spend with my kids is making them into the people they are supposed to be?  What if the people I work with at Target are some how benefiting in ways unseen to me from the work we do together?  What if is isn't about me and what I get out of it, but about me doing good for others (even if I can't see it)?

My kids may be like the neighbors in the story.
My time at Target is the jeep.
The people I interact with everyday could be the boat.
Situations and people that I may not even notice are the helicopter.

Things sent to "save" me.
I don't know what more I'm looking for, but maybe that's because I already have it.